ONE DAY WITH THE SHEPHERD(DAILY TOUR)

1.Shebenik – Jabllanice National Park is a protected national park located in the northeastern part of the Librazhd District, in central Albania. The park covers an area of 33,927.7 hectares and shares a border with the Republic of Macedonia. Elevations in the park vary from 300m to over 2,200m at the Peak of Shebenik Mountain, which, along with Jablanica give name to the park. The park is one of Albania’s newest, created in 2008.

Within the park region dwell a number of different species that are fast becoming rare in Albania, including the brown bear, gray wolf and the endangered Balkan Lynx. Further, the park is home to a number of endemic and rare plants. The nearest towns to the park are Librazhd and Prrenjas.

Two rivers flow and multiple smaller water sources flow through the park’s area including the Qarrishte River and Bushtrice River, both of which are 22 km long.

The area is home to at least 14 glacial lakes, the highest of which are around 1900 meters.

Flora; The park contains beech, fir, pines, and oak species as well as species such as Purple Willow, Maple, Silver birch, and European silver fir in the northern slopes of the Park area. There are a number of rare and endemic plant species such as Albanian rock rose (endemic species),greenwed (subendemic species), Albanian pansy (subendemic species), Dukagjini pansy (subendemic species) and Rock grevillea (subendemic species)

Fauna; The park area is thought to contain one of the primary remaining ranges of the Balkan Lynx subspecies of the Eurasian lynx. On 21 April 2011, the PPNEA (Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania) research team got the first photo of an alive Balkan lynx living within the boundaries of the national park. It is also a natural range for the brown bear, gray wolf, chamois, wild boar, European otter and brown trout. Avian populations include the Golden Eagle, Western Capercaillie, and Hazel Grouse.

There are numerous hiking trails throughout the park of varying difficulty with markings of varying quality.