Shkodra Region

Buna River (Serb. Bojana, Lat. Barbana) is 44 km long, 0.35 – 0.5 km wide and 2 - 4 m deep. The river begins in southernmost extremity of Shkodra Lake, it is the only emissary of the lake and flow to the Adriatic Sea forming a natural delta. The state border with Montenegro runs along the Buna River from the villages Samrisht in Albania and Gorice in Montenegro, until it flows to the sea.

Buna River Basin consists of three main types of rocks: Triassic, upper Crust and Eocene. Two types of geological base are distinguished: permeable rocks – limestone, and also no permeable rocks – flysh and quaternary sediments. The permeability of the rocks and erodibility affect directly a number of environmental characteristics, as the morphology of land shaft and habitat, hydrogeological and hydrological features, hydrochemistry of the running water and its temperature, factors which affect the biota.

In 1822, Drini and Buna were separated. Drini flowed directly at Adriatic Sea, near Lezha, about 25 km to the east of the actual Buna Delta. In 1867, a branch called Drinasa passed a part of the water from Drini in Buna River. In 1914 Drini discharged most of the water in Buna River through Drinasa. This situation develops also today. Buna River flows out from Shkodra Lake and only 1.5 km from the exit join the Drinasa water, the biggest tributary branch of Drini River.

The bottom of Buna River bed is some meters under the sea level. This makes sea water to penetrate along its bed’s bottom.

Buna River has a permanent river regime that is characterized by continuous water flow during the entire year in the river channel.

Buna River takes from the lake approximately 320 m³/sec water and from the Drini River branch takes 360 m³/sec, so in total 680 m³/sec. The average discharge of Buna River is 21.2 km3 /year, being so the third river in European Mediterranean, after Rhone and Po rivers.  

Buna River can be considered as part of the unique hydrological complex, composed of Moraca River, Drini River, Buna River and big cross border lakes of Shkodra, Ohrid and Prespa. Buna River represents the final plain segment, genuine potamic of this complex.

The water basin where Buna River collects its water from is 20,585 km². The average hight of this basin is 909 m over the sea level. Buna River collects water from a hydrographic network extending in five countries: Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Greece. Buna River collects water also from the streams, especially them of Ana Mali (in Shkodra), where the longest one is Milla Stream, 25 km.

The alluvial sediments are mainly gravel, sand and clay. The large materials deposit in the bottom of the river bed, especially in the upstream, while the others are transported in suspension, or in solution. The transport of the sediments along the river occurs mostly in winter or autumn, when the river water level reaches the highest level.

The estuary of Buna River is a coastal body of salty water, where two tributaries of the river flow and which has a free connection with open sea. The estuary represents a transition area between river and marine environments. So, the estuary is under two impacts: marine, which means waves and salt water flow, and also riverine, which means the flow of fresh water and sediments. The estuary filled by sea water during the ebb and with river water during the tide.    The sea water and fresh water from the river provide high level of nutrients in the water and sediments; therefore the estuary of Buna River is the most productive natural habitat in the entire complex of the river.

Buna Delta represents a sediment surface, created where the river joins the sea, but in the opposite direction with that of the estuary. Its formation is favored by sea waves, and also large flows of sediments from Drini River. The actual natural delta is formation from the actual Buna River and the sea. After the construction of the hydropower artificial lakes, the sediment flows have decreased till 30 % and so the front part of the delta has begun to be destroyed.

The regime of water and sediments flow of Buna River is messed up after the construction of the dams and lakes of the hydropowers in Drini River. The forced discharges cause the disorder of the water regime and often floods. The Drini sediment flow quantity has a large decrease. Erosion is found in the lands near the river. There is habitat loss or damaged, surface denaturation because of the constructions, services, etc. The increase of the human presence, especially last decades because of the beach has led to the decrease of the birds population, especially water birds.

In the entire complex of the waters along Buna River, from Shkodra Lake till Adriatic Sea, are defined 29 habitat classes. Buna Delta is the most important wetlands system along Adriatic coast and one of the best preserved in Mediterranean and Europe. The river estuary stands out as exemplary, with highest naturality in Mediterranean. 

Buna River stands out for its large water and nutrient flows. For these reasons are developed phytoplankton (with main groups Chlorophyta, Diatome and Cyanophyta), micro fauna (especially crabs, worms Rotifera and Protozoa), zoobenthos (dominated by crabs Crustacea, worms Oligochaeta, mollusks Mollusca, as Balcanic river snail Viviparus mamillatus, Bithynia and Holandriana, small river mussel Unio crassus, small tooth river mussel Microcondylaea compressa; insects Insecta, especially larvae Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera, Diptera);  macrophyte vegetation, cyprinid fishes, etc. We can distinguish salty waters of the estuary as very rich with phytoplankton and zooplankton, invertebrates (worms, mollusks and srabs), fishes and water birds.

Plants are abundant in rivers with low flow, as well as in Buna River. The flora of the area, related to water and humidity, contains over 170 species. Buna River macrophyte vegetation is located mainly in the river coasts from the exit from the lake till at the joint point with Drini River, and also at river mouth. It includes three plant association groups: submerge, floating and emerged.

Fauna is very rich in all its groups. Fishes and birds have high number of species. Amphibians are quite widespread in Buna river waters and around it. Especially are found tailless amphibians, through which the Albanian water frog Pelophylax shqiperica, endemic of low coastal Albania, Ulcinj lowland and Shkodra Lake. In this area are found 18 reptile species, from which 1/3 are endemic or subendemic taxa of the Balkans. Grass snake Natrix natrix, water snake Natrix tessellata and European pond turtle Emys orbicularis are very common in the waters. From the water mammals, otter Lutra lutra is found several times in Buna River. In Buna area there are quite a few mammal species, but most interesting is the finding of the footprints of brown bear Ursus arctos at the sand of Rrjolli beach.

The largest parts of the fishes, with about 30 species that are found in Buna River are the same of Shkodra Lake and mostly of them belong to the Cyprinidae family. These two indicators give to Buna River ichthyofauna a subtropical character like a lake one. About half of this number is endemic species of this hydrological system, or its parts. Such species are bleak Alburnus scoranza, western Balkan barbel Barbus rebeli, Albanian roach Pachychilon pictum, two species of (common) roachs Rutilus, Shkodra rudd Scardinius knezevici, Shkodra goby Pomatoschistus montenegrensis, Drini trout Salmo farioides, etc.

At the Buna mouth till 40 m deep into the sea, are found 66 fish species, especially benthic. More frequent are red mullet Mullus barbatus, European hake Merluccuis merluccius, picarel Spicara smaris, spotted flounder Citharus linguatula, large-scaled gurnard Lepidotrigla cavillone, etc. There are known 8 fish species that realize biological migration from Adriatic Sea, through Buna River, into Shkodra Lake and Drini River, and also vice versa. Flathead grey mullet Mugil cephalus, thin lip grey mullet Liza ramada, European eel Anguilla anguilla and twaite shad Alosa fallax are actually important species for the fish market in Shkodra. Whereas migratory species European sea sturgeon Acipenser sturio, Adriatic sturgeon Acipenser naccarii, seabass Dicentrarcus labrax and European flounder Platichthys flesus, last decades are rare too much or from a long time have not been seen. For all these species Buna River serves as a migration corridor from an ecosystem to the other one.

Diversity and abundance of fish in the Buna mouth area, and also 8 migratory fish species of Adriatic Sea, Buna River and Shkodra Lake ecosystems, represent outstanding cases of the integrated biological potentials of the ecosystems complex. 

On the surface Ulcinj – Viluni Lagoon – Shkoder are recorded 237 bird species, from which 59 are water bird species. In the cold seasons of 2003-2020 are counted in total 16.964 - 25.328 water birds, which belong to 45 - 57 species. Among them visit these habitats Dalmatian pelican Pelecanus crispus, flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus, whooper swan Cygnus cygnus, etc. Mostly of this number was found in the Ulcinj saltpans and Zogaj Lake in Ulcinj, less in Viluni Lagoon, Shas Lake, and the smallest part in Velipoja Reserve, Domni marshland, Murtemsa Lake, etc. Most of the individuals belong to the species: Eurasian coot Fulica atra, black-headed gull Larus ridibundus, ducks Anatidae (single out velvet scoter Melanitta fusca), great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo, black-throated loon Gavia arctica, dunlin Calidris alpina, etc. Over 40 % of wintering species are nesting birds or probably nesting. The other part of 60 % wintering here, but migrate for nesting in spring.  

The estuary is one of the most interesting areas for water birds, especially wintering birds, mainly Phalacrocoracidae, Scolopacidae and Anatidae; related to it also Prodelta, very developed, which represents the part of the delta inside the sea and which has a relatively low rate of deposits.  

Buna River and waters along it constitute a corridor for migratory birds along Adriatic coast.   

Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus is common in sea waters of Albania and during the entire year prefers sea coasts and river mouths. In hot seasons are found and photographed these dolphins inside Buna River, at Velipoja village level, near Paratuk Island, near Shasi Lake, and an individual in Daragjat, 8-9 km from Shkodra Lake. For these reasons, Buna River can be considers as a dolphin’s river.

The sea turtle Caretta caretta deposits eggs into the sand of sea coasts, found also in Ada Island. This turtle enter also in short distances into the rivers, but an individual of 56 kg and 87 cm long, one decade before entered Buna River until Muriqan village. This case is very interesting for the science and constitutes an ecological value more for the hydrological complex Adriatic Sea – Buna River