TIRANA, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- The presence of migratory birds in the lagoons of Albania has increased by 40 percent as a result of a hunting ban, the country's Minister of Tourism and Environment Blendi Klosi declared on Saturday.

The minister made the remarks while participating in the Scientific Conference on the Protection of Wild Fauna organized on Saturday in the framework of the Festival of Birds, in Divjaka, western Albania.

According to Klosi, Albania needs to extend the hunting moratorium period beyond the year 2021 to preserve the wild fauna of the country.

"As a result of the hunting moratorium the number of water birds in 2018 has reached over 47,000 in Karavasta National Park and the number of flamingos in this park goes to over 4,000 species," commented Klosi on the importance of the moratorium.

The reduction of wild fauna was a major problem in Albania. Even in protected areas it used to be difficult to find birds or wildlife.

In January 2014, the Albanian government adopted a law that suspended all hunting licenses for two years. In 2016, the law on the hunting moratorium was extended for another 5 years up to 2021 by the Ministry of Environment.

The hunting moratorium is an initiative aiming to increase the number of wild animals or migratory birds in Albania, even those at risk of extinction.