Nearly 2,500 kilometers of pristine Balkan rivers lost since 2012
The first comparable regional assessment in over a decade documents the deterioration of Europe's last wild rivers
Leonardo DiCaprio backs campaign to protect Bosnian rivers
Conservationist groups from the region and the world urged the Federation of BiH to pass a law that would forbid the construction of new small hydropower plants, and Leonardo DiCaprio backed the initiative to protect the country’s rivers. They called for the implementation of an initiative that the entity’s parliament adopted three months ago. If […]
40 artists back Blue Heart campaign to protect Balkan Rivers on occasion of World Music Day
Forty well-known artists from around the Balkan region are seeking to shake people up and help avert the looming destruction of nature in their home countries. On the occasion of World Music Day, which is celebrated annually on June 21, the artists take a stand in short video testimonies. Among them are Darko Rundek from […]
Brave Women of Kruščica win EuroNatur Award for averting construction of 2 SHPPs
The Brave Women of Kruščica have won the EuroNatur Award for 2019 for their 500-day action that prevented the construction of two small hydropower plants (HPPs) in the village in Bosnia and Herzegovina. For more than 500 days and nights, a group of women from the village of Kruščica blocked a bridge crossing the river […]
Ulcinj Salina declared protected area – ecosystem services seen as way forward
Environmental activists and bird lovers around the world are celebrating an important victory in Montenegro. Ulcinj Salina has been declared a protected area by the local municipality and proposed by the Government for the inclusion on the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance. Efforts now will include restarting salt production and regulating other ecosystem services […]
Run-of-river hydropower: Two years on, the struggle continues
More than two years on, the public and citizens across the Balkans fighting for the right to water and against run-of-river small hydropower plants are not giving up on their struggle. Protests and actions were organized from July 6 to 16 across the region, with a conference titled “Rakita – the rule of law crushed” […]
Protests against hydropower planned across Balkans from July 6-16
Environmental activists and civil society organizations (CSOs) from across the Balkans are organizing protests under the slogan “Our rivers – No DAMage!” in July over hydropower projects threatening to leave local populations without homes, arable lands, drinking water, and irrigation supply, or the landscape they have enjoyed for generations. The protests against hydropower plants (HPPs) […]
NGOs call for designation of no-go zones for construction of hydropower plants
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), government representatives, experts, hydropower developers, and the local community gathered at an international conference in North Macedonia to discuss challenges and solutions concerning nature protection and hydropower projects in the country, according to a joint press release from NGOs Front 21/42, Riverwatch, and EuroNatur. At the conference, the first ever national approach […]