Public outrage in Albania has been mounting for weeks over plans backed by former U.S. President Donald Trump and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama to develop a luxury hotel complex on the country’s Adriatic coast — a project spearheaded by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Protesters have taken to the streets for months, citing severe environmental damage as a central concern — a claim now substantiated by scientists and NGOs.
Irreversible Damage to Coastal Ecosystems
Within days of the start of preparatory construction work along the coastal zone near the Narta Lagoon — where the Trump family envisions a massive resort — environmental groups and marine biologists report irreversible harm to sensitive habitats. The lagoon, a vital wetland for migratory birds and endangered sea turtles, is already showing signs of ecological collapse.
Olsi Nika, marine biologist and head of the NGO EcoAlbania, expressed shock at the scale of destruction observed between May 5 and May 30. Satellite imagery reveals a newly cut road, large-scale deforestation, and the construction of a bridge across the channel connecting the lagoon to the sea — all carried out without proper environmental assessment or oversight.
Threats to Endangered Species and Wetland Integrity
The Narta dunes — critical nesting grounds for the critically endangered loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) — have been severely degraded by road excavation. Trees have been felled, concrete poured near shorelines, and bird habitats compromised. Nika described the situation as a “real massacre of biodiversity across thousands of square meters,” stressing that interventions in this ecologically pivotal waterway have severely disrupted the natural exchange of seawater and freshwater — essential for maintaining the lagoon’s delicate hydrological balance.
Professor Ferdinand Begu of the University of Tirana confirmed that even though nightly protests in Tirana succeeded in halting earthworks temporarily, the damage inflicted before any major construction began is largely irreversible.
International Scientific Alarm
Professor Friedrich Simer of the University of Vienna, who visited the area in June, warned that large-scale tourism developments like this one “irreversibly undermine the natural integrity” of the Narta Delta — a site of high ecological value for the entire Mediterranean region. He emphasized the urgent need to limit further losses in this internationally significant wetland.
For months, environmental NGOs and academic institutions have sounded the alarm over the Kushner-led project — urging transparency, independent environmental impact assessments, and full public consultation. Their warnings, once dismissed as speculative, are now echoed in satellite data, field reports, and growing civil resistance across Albania.