(ANSA-AFP) - DIVJAKA, FEB 8 - Thousands of migratory birds have failed to make their annual visit to Albania's western coast this winter, experts say, pointing to climate change, overfishing and urbanisation as likely factors. The number of waterbirds recorded in January 2022 in the Divjaka-Karavasta wetlands -- an internationally important wintering site along the European migratory flyway -- was 25 percent lower than at this time last year. Western Albania recorded the drop during the annual International Waterbird Census, a three-day global event to monitor the migration patterns of waterfowl across the world. Several species are affected by the decline, according to Taulant Bino from the Albanian Ornithological Society.

"We discovered that some 9,000 waterbirds are missing from the Divjaka-Karavasta lagoons compared to last year," said Ardian Koci, head of the Divjaka-Karavasta National Park, where the protected wetlands are located. Koci told AFP a total of 25,000 birds were counted in Divjaka-Karavasta -- one of the most important wetland ecosystems in the Mediterranean -- during the census on January 15-16, as compared to 34,000 in the survey a year earlier. (ANSA-AFP).