Tourism, climate change threaten Albania's coast

Albania's coast is being hit by a double whammy of climate change and chaotic tourist development.

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Tirana - Albania's coast is being hit by a double whammy of climate change and chaotic tourist development.

From Velipoja in the north, where the waves are swallowing a century-old forest, to the tourist hotspot of Golem, where galloping construction of hotels and restaurants is accelerating erosion, the country's often spectacular Adriatic coast is under threat.

"Out of Albania's 273km of coastline, some 154 are affected by erosion," said urban planning specialist Besjana Shehu.