Kune-Vain Lagoon is situated near Lezha and nestled between Shengjin and several villages of the island of Lezha. The Protected Area is 2,300 ha and it was formed by accumulated sediment from the Drin and Mati rivers. Two channels connect the lagoon with the sea.
It has become one of the most visited lagoons in the country because of the culture, gastronomic tradition and the Adriatic coast. It was the most favorite among the Italian occupiers (who actually erected the very first hotel here) toward the end of the 1930s.
Kune Lagoon offers wonderful bird watching opportunities and delicious riverside restaurants make it ideal for nature and food enthusiasts. It has around 200 types of birds (some of them very rare), that is why the nature park is considered an important bird area.
Kune-Vain is the first protected area in the history of nature conservation in Albania since it was declared a hunting reserve as early as the 1960s. It is the first protected area in Albania, promulgated since 1940. More than 360 species of animals have crossed the Kune-Vain region and about 190 species that inhabit the region are included in Albania’s Red List of Threatened Species as referring to Center for the Protection and Preservation of the Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA). Hunting is prohibited in the area, the complex exhibits exquisite architecture.
The lagoon and the surrounding ecosystem are part of the managed natural reserve, but this lagoon system has been identified as a critical region vulnerable to climate change impacts. Rising sea levels and changes in precipitation intensity have challenged water supply, agriculture, fisheries, infrastructure and natural ecosystems.