Botanical Garden

Background

The Botanical Garden is a scientific-educational-recreational institution, where lovers of nature's plants in general can see and get to know many plants of the Albanian flora and beyond. It was founded in 1971, although the works for its construction started years ago. The Botanic Garden is part of the Research Center of Flora and Fauna at the Faculty of Natural Sciences (FNS), in the University of Tirana.

Located on the southern slopes of Tirana, in the form of a "green oasis" within the urban chaos of the area, it represents the only institution of its kind in Albania. Since its beginnings, it has been conceived and developed both on systematic principles, that is on the grouping of plants according to taxonomic and phytogeographic affiliation. This can be observed especially in the southern area of ​​the Botanical Garden, where there are shrubby-woody groups, a reflection of the three phytoclimatic zones/belts of Albania.

After going through a difficult situation of several years, where the Botanical Garden was damaged by the crossing of the highway and the construction of several houses within its territory, it is now recovering and returning to its normal, scientific and educational activity. Currently, it has an area of ​​about 13.5 ha. It houses about 800 plant taxa, mainly of the Albanian flora.

The scientific topic is mainly related to the collection and cataloging of the taxa of the spontaneous flora of Albania, including the rare and endangered plants, i.e. the red list, as well as that of plants with useful values, especially medicinal plants and with nutritional value. In the previous periods, studies were also conducted in relation to the study of the biotechnology of introduced plants; the study of the cultivation technology of some ornamental plants; the study of the inheritance of garden rose traits and the creation of new cultivars by hybridization; improvement of natural meadows and pastures of Albania, geobotanical studies of beech trees, black pine forests in our country, etc. The garden has been and is quite active in several important projects such as: Interreg II, Corine, Emerald, Peen-See, Natura2000, etc. In recent years, a special importance is being devoted to the study of the flora and vegetation of protected areas, especially the national parks (Dajt, Tomorr, Llogara, Divjakë, etc.) mainly focusing on the collection of their flora, for the enrichment of the Garden's collections. Likewise, the study of the flora of urban areas (Tirana Lake Park, etc.) is the focus of the research work of this institution. The Botanical Garden publishes the Index Seminum, thereby strengthening relations with dozens of Botanical Gardens around the world, especially in Europe.

Meanwhile, the Garden also serves as an important learning center, i.e. as an "outdoor laboratory", for the development of various learning sessions in the field of Botany and beyond, both by pupils and students, as well as by many lovers of Albanian flora. In addition to FNS students, the Garden is also a learning environment for students of the biological courses of the Forestry and Plant Production (AUT) branches, or for Biology students of the universities of Shkodra, Elbasan, Gjirokastra and Vlora. The scientific research staff, in cooperation with the Department of Biology of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, has been and is quite active in several subjects, of all three teaching levels of the Biology Department, such as in Floriculture, Geobotany, Methods of Studying Flora and Vegetation, Phytogeography, Biogeography, Environmental Legislation, etc. A part of it also carries out teaching activities in other faculties or universities, especially in the Agricultural University of Tirana. Even in terms of relaxation, the Botanical Garden offers pleasant and beautiful environments, which are used with pleasure by a public of all ages and passions.

From the perspective of chronological contributions, we focus on the invaluable activity of Prof. Mustafa Demiri (May 1923-June 1985), founder and first director of the Botanical Garden, one of the pioneers of Albanian Botany. Likewise, Prof. Liri Dinga has made a valuable contribution, she has been the director for a very long time (1985-2008) of the Botanical Garden. It is also worth mentioning the commendable activity of other researchers, such as Vasil Shqau, Eshref Palikuqi, Prof. Kozma Buzo, Prof. Mersin Mersinllari etc.

The main collections of the Botanical Garden

Exposition of herbaceous flora. (no. 10 on the map)

These are found in the NW part of the Botanical Garden. There, the plants are arranged according to the evolutionary scale in 4 sectors: A (Equisetace-Rosaceae), B (Fabace-Boraginaceae), C (Verbenaceae-Asteraceae), D (Juncaceae-Orchidaceae). Currently, only about 310 species can be found there, this number is quite reduced, mainly as a consequence of the fragmentation of the Garden by the crossing of the highway, especially in sectors C and D.

Exposition of wood-shrub plants (no. 11 on the map)

It consists of 13 small plots, where the plants are grouped according to families (eg Fabaceae, Fagaceae...), or physiognomic groups (eg "conifers, etc."). Currently, there are 155 species, mainly of Albanian flora.

Medicinal and rare plants (no. 9 on the map)

Here you can see about 147 species of medicinal plants (Origanum vulgare, Satureja montana, Salvia, Artemisia, Melissa officinalis, etc.). In a part of this plot, Red List plants have also been introduced, such as Sarcopoterium spinosum (L.) Spach (CR(A1c), the endemic Genista hassertiana (Bold). (NE), Gams, the Balkan Ramonda serbica Pancic, (VU(A1b)), Juniperus foetidissima Willd. (EN (A1b)) etc.

Greenhouse

Although in a relatively amortized state, many ornamental plants still grow there, most of them not from the spontaneous flora of Albania, but from different countries, especially those with a hotter climate.

Other exhibitions

• The orchard has been rehabilitated in recent years, with wood-shrub seedlings of the spontaneous flora of Albania, especially those fruit trees, such as apples, pears, blackberries, plums, peaches.

•  The rose garden and the Exhibition of ornamental plants (germa), which, in addition to aesthetic values, are sometimes also used for various family parties or audiovisual recordings.

•  Herbarium and Seeds accumulation are currently under rehabilitation (reconstruction)

•  Seed Index (Delectus Seminum). It’s a list of seeds, collected in the surroundings of the Garden or in the expeditions carried out in different places in Albania, with the aim of exchanging biological material, valuable for teaching and research work, with other research institutions around the world. Published for the first time in 1981, it has been exchanged with about 160 Botanical Gardens, mainly European, facilitating the enrichment of the Botanical Garden collections, but also the continuous exchange of seeds and scientific information about the flora and vegetation of Albania. 

Climate

Based on the climatic data of Tirana, it has a Mediterranean climate, where the total monthly rainfall is 106 mm, while the average annual rainfall is 1273 mm; meanwhile, the average annual temperature is 15.1° and the annual amplitude is 17.1°.