- More than 3,000 hydropower dams are proposed to be built in the next few years on the Balkan rivers.
- A conservation research and advocacy project says that this number is too high, due to the likely harmful effects of such dams on the fragile freshwater ecology, and argues that the permits granted to hydropower companies do not take into account biological wealth.
- Mongabay visited the group’s latest biological survey of the Neretva River in Bosnia-Herzegovina and shared this new video report.
- The Balkan nation of Albania agreed with them recently, using the group’s data as part of its decision to cancel a giant dam project proposed for the Vjosa River, and instead name the area a national park.
The Balkan countries have an impressive number of mostly wild and free rivers, which are home to impressive biodiversity but have been threatened by a wave of hydroelectric dam proposals in recent years: 3,200 mostly small hydropower plants are proposed to be built there in the next few years, the conservation organization RiverWatch estimates.
That’s why they collaborated with EuroNatur to launch Scientists for Balkan Rivers, a group of researchers from institutions around Europe that rapidly assess the biological diversity at risk – from mollusks to mammals, bugs and birds – if the last rivers in Europe disappear under reservoirs.
They have documented a great biological wealth and also species new to science there in recent years, revealing a natural heritage that conservationists can use to argue for greater protection of these rivers from energy projects that can change the flow.
Mongabay sent reporter Monica Pelliccia to participate in their latest survey of the Neretva River in Bosnia-Herzegovina, watch her video report here:
Although hydropower is widely agreed to be a renewable source of energy, Scientists for the Balkan Rivers argue that producing electricity in this way has a very high biological cost, and use newly gathered data to make the argument for conservation.
In March of this year, the Balkan country of Albania agreed with them, and used the group’s data as part of its decision to cancel a giant dam project proposed for the Vjosa River, and instead name the area a national park.
RiverWatch founder and CEO Ulrich Eichelmann, interviewed in the video report, also appeared on the Mongabay podcast in 2022 to explain the beginnings of the campaign and its successes, listen to his thoughts here:
Europe already has more than a million barriers like dams on rivers, with 23,000 of them registered as hydroelectric units, Eichelmann said. But with the drought caused by climate change threatening to reduce their flows and therefore the economic basis for such dams, the momentum for the campaign to keep such rivers flowing freely has increased.
The campaign was also heavily featured in a documentary film, Blue Heart: The Fight for Europe’s Last Wild Riversmade by outdoor gear company Patagonia, check it out here.
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See related coverage here on Mongabay:
In Bosnia-Herzegovina, grassroots opposition stopped another hydropower project