Rrajcë is a village and a former municipality in Elbasan County, in eastern Albania. The village of Rrajcë is found within the boundaries of Shebenik-Jabllanicë National Park. The nearby forest was declared part of UNESCO’s transnational natural site, The Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe.
“Since the end of the last Ice Age, European beech spread from a few isolated refuges in the Alps, Carpathians, Mediterranean and Pyrenees over a short period of a few thousand years in a process that is still ongoing. This successful expansion is related to the tree’s flexibility and tolerance of different climatic, geographical and physical conditions,” says the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Experts say that the average stand age of the Rrajca component part is 180 years. On steep slopes in remote areas primary forest remnants survived. With its mountain streams and glacial lakes, Rrajca is one of the most beautiful mountain regions in eastern Albania. The component part comprises the best-preserved beech forests that have the character of a primeval forest.
They are located in the upper Bustrica valley, which is very remote and difficult to access. In the forests on the steep slopes, beech grows together with fir and Balkan pine as well as other endemic species. Remnants of thermophilic mixed oak forests with Macedonian oak, Turkey oak, and European box show the Mediterranean influence.
