Just days after preparatory works began on the coastal zone of Zvernec in Albania, where the Trump family envisions building a huge hotel complex, irreparable damage has already been inflicted on the Albanian coast, threatening landscapes and wildlife, according to warnings from non-governmental organisations and scientists.

Diggers on the beaches have already damaged the nesting sites of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta), a species threatened with extinction. Marine biologist Olsi Nika, head of the NGO EcoAlbania, said he was shocked by the destruction that took place along the banks of the Narta lagoon between 5 and 30 May.

Satellite images show that during this period a road was opened, an entire zone was cleared of vegetation, and a bridge was built across the strait connecting the lagoon to the sea.

The Narta sand dunes were destroyed by the cutting of access roads, trees were felled, and concrete was poured in nearby coastal areas, threatening numerous bird species.

“A real massacre of biodiversity across an area of thousands of hectares,” Nika said, adding that “the interventions in a channel that is vital for connecting the lagoon and the sea have severely disrupted the water exchange necessary for the wetland’s balance.”

According to Ferdinand Bego, a professor at the University of Tirana, even though nightly protests in the Albanian capital against the Trump family’s plan succeeded in halting the earthworks, “the damage caused, even before construction itself began, is in large part irreversible.”

Friedrich Schiemer, a professor at the University of Vienna who visited the area in June, said it was urgent to limit losses in the delta, which is of high ecological value for the Mediterranean, warning that large scale tourism projects “irreparably undermine its natural integrity.”

NGOs and institutions have long warned about the plan by Jared Kushner, son in law of Donald Trump, to build luxury hotels amid colonies of pink flamingos and on an uninhabited island, a politically sensitive project worth more than 4 billion euros.

But six weeks ago, when barbed wire fencing appeared around the boundaries of the complex, public anger erupted. A protest, broken up by private security guards, was the spark. The next day, on a podcast, Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka spoke of “five miles of oceanfront across from the island, this incredible peninsula with the lagoon on one side, the ocean (sic) on the other, and the beautiful white sand beaches.”

Since then, protests have continued without interruption.

The government of Prime Minister Edi Rama, in power for 13 years, defends what it calls “the most beautiful project in Europe,” saying it will attract international capital, upgrade Albanian tourism, create jobs, and help the country’s coastline compete with Montenegro, Greece and Croatia.

In mid-June, a team of scientists visited the area to assess the damage caused by the preparatory works. In a statement published after the visit, they highlighted the harm done to Caretta caretta nesting sites through the use of diggers along Dalan and Portonovo beaches, the interventions in the Portonovo channel that threaten to alter the natural water exchange between the lagoon and the sea, and the severe disruption to bird life that depends on the area for feeding, resting and breeding.

Although protests in Tirana have become less crowded since mid-July, demonstrators received unexpected and high profile support from British pop star Dua Lipa, who is of Kosovar descent. Dua Lipa said on her podcast that she shared concerns over the conditions under which the building permit was granted, noting that the relevant law was specifically amended for this purpose in 2024.

Even the European Union, which Albania hopes to join by 2030, has intervened to recall the ongoing negotiations on “Chapter 27,” covering environment and climate change. EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said in July that “even before these protests began, we had agreed with Albania that the 2024 amendments to the law on protected areas and the law on strategic investments would be repealed within the year.”