Enhancing livelihoods

We have been engaging openly, proactively and respectfully with all the communities along the pipeline route and will continue to do so. 

TAP has restored land affected during construction to pre-pipeline conditions, returning it to landowners and supporting the restoration and, where possible, improvement of production and livelihoods. 

Our social and environmental investment (SEI) projects form a cornerstone of our commitment to the future of affected communities. Through our SEI initiatives, we have committed to invest more than €55 million in these communities. 

TAP’s environmental, social and cultural heritage management system (ESCH MS) is focused on a dynamic process of assessment, activity planning, management, mitigation and monitoring in relation to local livelihoods along the pipeline route.  

This consists of four key steps: 

1. avoid
2. minimise and mitigate
3. rehabilitate
4. offset 

In accordance with international standards and national laws and practices TAP compensated affected households for land, crops, assets or restrictions on land use during the construction of the pipeline. 

TAP’s Land Easement and Acquisition process ensured that all affected people were compensated fairly and transparently for the acquisition of access rights to land along the pipeline route. 

Additionally, TAP oversaw the implementation of a programme to support the restoration of cultivated and non-cultivated land along the pipeline construction corridor. This included:

• reconstructing land drainage infrastructure, roads and/or other networks and facilities that were affected or moved during construction
• contouring the land back to the original profile
• designing and installing engineered erosion control and drainage measures in locations with erosion risk
• reinstating the topsoil (which was stored in stockpiles during the opening of the right-of-way to maintain its fertility)
• assisting revegetation and ecological restoration programmes in non-cultivated land, in conjunction with the relevant forestry authorities
• agricultural and biodiversity restoration programmes to accelerate cultivated land productivity and bio-restoration, supported by national and international agronomists, livelihood restoration and biodiversity specialists
• monitoring to confirm the performance of the restoration and identify issues that emerged after land hand-back.

We understand the economic and social importance of agricultural land to the communities along the pipeline route.  

In addition to providing financial compensation to affected individuals in line with applicable legislation, TAP has developed a Livelihood Assistance and Transitional Support (LATS) programme, which includes: 

• promoting the restoration and improvement of agricultural productivity of affected land parcels, including agronomic monitoring, advisory support and interventions, such as supplying nearly 300 tonnes of fertilizer in Albania and 1,467 tonnes in Greece  
• ensuring that those households who have been affected by permanent land acquisition can source and acquire replacement land, should they wish to do so  
• ensuring that growers of deep-rooted perennial crops substantially impacted by easement restrictions are no worse off than prior to the construction of the pipeline, including the supply of 82,000 tree samplings in Albania and 41,865 in Greece 
• identifying, monitoring and, where appropriate, providing support to vulnerable households
• promoting agricultural livelihood diversification by supporting an innovation, enterprise and market linkages programme
• monitoring and providing assistance to fishing and tourism businesses in Albania and Italy.

TAP’s commitments to transparency, accountability and dialogue with stakeholders are set out in our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy.  

We engage openly, proactively and respectfully with our stakeholders and have integrated their views into our activities. 

Our CSR principles are embedded in our activities and those of our contractors and suppliers, who are monitored closely to ensure compliance. 

Our grievance procedure allows local people to express any concerns or objections, which TAP reviews and addresses.