Cleaning Campaign for the Opening of the Tourist Season in Valbonë

The initiative "Margegaj Zone with Zero Waste" organizes a cleaning campaign for the opening of the tourist season in Valbonë! Margegaj is the Administrative Unit of Tropojë Municipality, which contains within its territory the most beautiful part of Albania, the Valbonë River and the peaks of the Albanian Alps. This natural beauty is already one of the most visited destinations by domestic and foreign tourists, with over 200,000 visitors per year, who enjoy the mountain beauty of the Valbonë valley, the clean air, and the freshness of the Alps.

Tropojë Municipality, under the special care of its mayor Mr. Rexh Byberaj, has made it a tradition to organize in June each year the ceremony for opening the tourist season in Valbonë, where the tourist values of Valbonë and the entire territory of Tropojë Municipality are promoted. This year, differently from previous times, the Administrative Unit Margegaj and Tropojë Municipality have decided to create better conditions for tourists, for a safer, more friendly and cleaner environment, by preceding the opening ceremony of the season with a massive cleaning campaign of the territory in Valbonë. In this context, Margegaj aims to be the first zero waste zone in Albania. This initiative is part of a cross-border pilot project between Montenegro and Albania, where Margegaj and the border municipality of Gusinje in Montenegro will become part of the European network of 460 zero waste municipalities, and is supported by the European Union, IPA Cross-Border Program, Montenegro and Albania.

The staff of Tropojë Municipality and the Administrative Unit Margegaj, students from schools in Margegaj, representatives of civil society, citizens and businesses in the area, on June 10, 2022, joined this initiative, demonstrating through the cleaning of several polluted sites in the Valbonë valley and surrounding forests, and transmitting the message that the engagement of all parties is necessary for Margegaj to be a zero waste zone. If we all engage in this initiative, Margegaj and Tropoja will be the best model of waste management in Albania, and the first zero waste zone. This initiative is supported by the project "Montenegro and Albania towards Zero Waste Zones", financed by the EU, part of the (IPA II) program "Cross Border Cooperation Montenegro-Albania 2014-2020", and implemented by the Albanian Foundation for Local Capacity Development (ALCDF).

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