Investors taking advantage of corona crisis to build five small HPPs in BiH
Despite the lockdowns in the region caused by the coronavirus, the construction of five small hydropower plants (SHPPs) has begun or is being pushed in the south of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital Sarajevo, according to a joint press release by the Coalition for the Protection of Rivers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Riverwatch and EuroNatur. In […]
Blue Heart of Europe – hydropower is destroying environment for hardly any energy
Rivers are the source of life and also the livelihoods of surrounding communities. Following an almost one-year standoff in nearby Fojnica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, residents of the Kruščica village decided in 2017 to defend the river of the same name with their bodies. The resistance started when machines rolled in to build two small […]
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 […]
Energy Community receives complaint against Albania over Kalivac, Pocem hydropower plants
EcoAlbania, Riverwatch and EuroNatur have sent a complaint to the Energy Community (EnC) against the Albanian Government over procedures for the Kalivac and Pocem hydropower projects. The three civil society organizations behind the campaign for the protection of the Vjosa River have raised concerns that the procedures for the two hydropower plants (HPPs) are not […]
Petition handed to EBRD calling on IFIs to drop “destructive hydropower in the Balkans”
Representatives from the Save the Blue Heart of Europe campaign to save the continent’s last undammed rivers have handed in a petition endorsed globally by more than 120,000 people, calling on international development banks to rein in financial support for hydropower projects in the Balkans, according to a press release from CEE Bankwatch Network, one […]