封鎖下の環境は鳥には楽園、フラミンゴとペリカンが増加　アルバニア

【ナートＡＦＰ＝時事】観光客の姿はなく、ボートは停泊したままで、工場も稼働していない──新型コロナウイルス対策で封鎖措置が敷かれたアルバニアの静寂に満ちたラグーン（潟）で、フラミンゴとハイイロペリカンの群れの姿が見られた。（写真はアルバニアのナルタ・ラグーンの上空を飛ぶフラミンゴ）
　ピンク色の羽を羽ばたかせながら数千ものフラミンゴの群れがアドリア海沿岸のナルタ・ラグーンに飛来し、水しぶきをあげている。同地は渡り鳥にとって重要な渡来地だ。
　公園当局によると、フラミンゴの飛来数は１月以降、３分の１近く増加しており、約３０００羽に上る。
　保護区の職員はＡＦＰに対し、封鎖下で人々が家にとどまったことで「野生生物は絶対的な権利を取り戻し、自然の中で自由を謳歌（おうか）している」と語った。近年、とどまるところを知らない都市化と観光業、そして産業活動の増大により、保護区の生態系は脅かされているが、３月９日からの封鎖措置は野生生物にとって歓迎すべき期間となった。
　ナルタ・ラグーンから北に１００キロ程先のディビアカ・カラバスタ国立公園では、職員らが、今の静けさによってハイイロペリカンの個体数が増加するのではないかと期待を寄せている。同公園はアルバニア最大のラグーンを誇る。
　ハイイロペリカンは国際自然保護連合（ＩＵＣＮ）の「レッドリスト」で近危急種に分類されているが、ラグーンの中央部にある小さな島では約８５のつがいが巣作りをしている。公園によると、ペリカンの個体数は近年増加し、今年は過去３０年で最多だという。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/04/30-12:54）

With tourists home, boats docked and factories silenced under a coronavirus lockdown, Albania's pink flamingos and curly pelicans are flourishing in the newfound tranquility of lagoons dotting the country's western coastline.
Beating their pink and black-lined wings, a growing flock of thousands of flamingos have recently been soaring over and splashing in the glistening waters of Narta Lagoon, an important site for migratory birds on the Adriatic coast.
Their numbers have increased by nearly a third up to some 3,000 since January, according to park authorities.
With humans kept home under lockdown, wildlife have regained all of their absolute rights and are enjoying all the freedoms of nature, Nexhip Hysolakoj, the chief of the protected area, told AFP from the shores of the placid lagoon.
In recent years unchecked urbanisation, a growing tourism footprint and industrial activity have threatened ecosystems in the protected zone surrounded by scrubby hills.
The coronavirus lockdown imposed on March 9, however, has brought a welcome reprieve.
Gone are the churning engines of fishing boats and the dozens of ferries and other vessels that normally depart daily from the nearby port of Vlora.
Car traffic on a busy road only 500 metres away has also been reduced, adding to the quiet and protecting land animals.
And nearby factories who have come under scrutiny for polluting the waters with waste, such as a leather processing plant and an olive oil producer, are dormant.
- 'Time for love' -
Conservationists hope the quiet will encourage the graceful birds to take the next step and mate.
Over the past three weeks, couples have been moving a little further into the lagoon and are now starting courtship rituals, said Hysolokaj.
The author of Albania's first bird guide, Mirjan Topi, said the conditions are perfect for the flamingos to start reproducing in the Balkan state.
The birds typically travel for a few years in the different regions of the Mediterranean until they reach sexual maturity, he said.
Those frolicking in the lagoon today hail from Africa, Italy, Greece, Spain and France, according to a park survey.
It's time for love, Odise Celoaliaj, an environmental expert, said with excitement as he peered through binoculars to watch a flock of flamingos take flight.
It is enough to see how the flamingos are enjoying the tranquility, they feed and dance on their own free will.
- Pelican nests -
Just under 100 kilometres (60 miles) to the north, officials in Albania's largest lagoon in Divjaka National Park also hope the calm will be a boon to a growing population of Dalmatian pelicans.
The near threatened species are known as curly pelicans for the ruffle of feathers on top of their heads.
Some 85 mating pairs are nesting on a tiny island in the centre of the lagoon, which is separated from the Adriatic by a sandy bar.
The population has been increasing in recent years and has now reached its highest number in the last three decades, according to Ardian Koci, the park's director.
But the area is also threatened by a growing tourist industry, with some 50,000 visitors a month.
Today silence reigns with restaurants and hotels, including dozens of illegally constructed buildings, closed.
The pelicans, plus flamingos, bald eagles and Ibis falcinella are enjoying the peace, gathering on deserted pathways normally teeming with tourists.
Koci hopes health crisis that has caused almost 30 deaths in Albania will be an opportunity to rebalance tourism and the protection of biodiversity in Albania.
I would be selfish to say that only nature counts, he said.
But urgent measures are needed to put an end to the abuses that have so badly damaged ecosystems.