However, he was surprised when the ministry swiftly decided to fire him. An outburst of public anger over his sacking forced the authorities to reinstate Koci, but then he resigned less than six months later.
Koci now lives in Munich, Germany, where he works in public transport. But his decade-long effort to protect the environment in Albania did not go unnoticed. In October this year, he received a prestigious prize from the German organisation EuroNatur, which gave him the award for his “profound commitment” as head of Divjake-Karavasta National Park, “until being forced out of office”.
In an interview with BIRN, Koci opened up about his dismissal, the pain of leaving a park which he felt a spiritual connection with, and how the environment faces huge threats from the institutions that are supposed to protect it.
After his radio interview, Koci says he was told that he had violated Environment Ministry rules on giving interviews without its permission. He disagreed he had done anything wrong.
“I explained that above any verbal or written order from the minister stands the law on protected areas, which assigns the director of the protected areas the duty to communicate with the media for the promotion of the area or to provide information. This is clearly stated even in the National Agency of Protected Areas, regarding the role of the director,” he says.
But his bosses at the ministry had already made up their minds. “They called me before the disciplinary commission and decided on an immediate dismissal. I was shocked, as I had never received a warning in 10 years on duty”, he says.
Public support for Koci quickly snowballed. “That night, after receiving the dismissal notice, I posted on social media informing everyone that I would no longer be in office. This caused a strong public reaction, from ordinary people, those who had visited the park, my friends, people who loved nature, and for several days, this campaign continued with such force that it pushed the minister to withdraw her order,” he says.
He was given his job back. But within six months, he told BIRN, he was effectively “forced to resign”.
“I agreed to return to my position, but during the months I was back at work, I noticed that their desire to have me there was not sincere. It was merely a lie for public appearance, they wanted to make it look good by reinstating me but were cutting off my ability to act,” he says. His work was made impossible. For example, he was not given enough fuel for the patrol vehicles he used for park inspections.
BIRN contacted the Environment Ministry for a response to the allegations made by Koci, but did not receive a reply by the time of publication.
Koci ended up leaving the park he had managed since 2013, and Albania, to search for work. He says this was not easy, because his connection with the park was more than a professional one. It was a place he had known all his life.
“I have had a spiritual connection with the Divjaka-Karavasta National Park since I was a child. I grew up loving that place, the forest, the lagoon, and when I became the park director there, it felt like returning home,” he says.
As well as leaving the park, he left the country, relocating to Germany. “I left Albania because it had become impossible for me to continue working there, since all the ways to carry out my duty were blocked, and at the same time, I had no possibility of finding another job,” he recalls.
