Welcome to riverwatch.eu

Invitation: Balkan Rivers Concert in Sarajevo

Join us at the free Open-Air Concert for Balkan Rivers in Sarajevo on September 29th! Famous artists from the Balkans raise their voices to save Europe’s last wild rivers. Come and dance with us for free rivers! Featured artists: Rambo Amadeus, Eda Zari, Damir Imamovic, Tamara Obrovac, DJ Ismar

The villagers were alerted quickly and blocked access to the river. © Abaz Dželilović

Balkanrivers

Another victory for the “Brave Women of Kruščica”

++ Women block bridge in Bosnia-Herzegovina for over a year to protect their river ++ New attempt by the investor to vacate the bridge has been successfully fended off ++ Documentary on resistance against dams in the Balkans now available on iTunes ++

The removal of the 22 meters high Yecla de Yeltes dam on the Huebra River began in April 2018. 27 Km of river were reconnected, benefitting endangered fishes, otters, turtles and many other species. © Hermann Wanningen

DeDamming

Removing tens of thousands of obsolete dams in Europe will bring life back to rivers, says new report

A new study, published today, calls for tens of thousands of redundant dams and other barriers to be removed to help restore rivers and lakes – boosting wildlife populations and benefiting communities across the continent.

Balkanrivers

Vjosa on ARTE TV

Tomorrow, Tuesday (July 17) at 19:40, the documentary "Europe's last wild river - is a dam threatening Albania's nature" about the Vjosa - the fight against the projected dams, and why this rivers is so important to scientists - will be aired on ARTE! Don’t miss it! Sorry, in German only… Find more info HERE

General

Join us at the first European Rivers Summit, which will be held in Sarajevo from September 27-29! REGISTER NOW! To do so send an email to cornelia.wieser@riverwatch.eu, including your name, organisation, country and the subject line “European Rivers Summit” by AUGUST 31.

Thomas Waitz, Member of the European Parliament of the Greens, invited politicians, river conservationists and media representatives to the EU Parliament in Brussels. © Jason Alden/Patagonia

Balkanrivers

EU parliament hosts Save the Blue Heart of Europe debate

On Wednesday 27 June, a Save the Blue Heart of Europe debate and film screening was held at the EU Parliament, to an audience of policymakers, media and NGOs. The issue of protecting the Balkan Rivers from the threat of 3,000 proposed HPPs was debated, along with the question: What role can the EU play to ensure a win-win scenario by safeguarding nature and leading the region’s low-carbon future?

Representatives of the Save the Blue Heart of Europe campaign in front of the EBRD headquarters in London. In their hands: 120.000 signatures. © Jason Alden, Patagonia

Balkanrivers

Over 120,000 petition development banks to drop destructive hydropower in the Balkans

Yesterday, representatives of the Save the Blue Heart of Europe campaign to save Europe’s last remaining wild rivers hand-delivered a petition endorsed globally by more than 120,000 people to high level executives at the London headquarters of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

On-the-spot appraisal at the Vjosa. This is where the hydropower plant Pocem is projected to be built. © EuroNatur

Balkanrivers

Bern Convention visits Vjosa in Albania

++ Representatives of the Bern Convention emphasize the conservation value of the river ++ Albanian Government signs concession contracts for HPP Kalivac nevertheless ++ Representatives of the Bern Convention visited the Vjosa in order to investigate to which extent plans for hydropower development are jeopardizing the objectives of the Bern Convention. The on-the-spot appraisal was accompanied by an independent expert.

The brave women of Kruščica have stood guard on the access bridge, 24 hours a day, for over 300 days, in order to prevent construction of a hydropower plant © Andrew Burr

Balkanrivers

Brave women of Kruščica win court case against dam construction

A major court victory has been won by the Brave Women of Kruščica, a group of activists protecting their river from the threat of dam construction. The competent court in BiH this week ruled that the environmental permit for dam construction should be annulled immediately, meaning that any further construction work on the proposed dam is illegal.

General

Blue Heart Screening in Vienna on June 19

The film ‘Blue Heart’ will be screened in the Hafenkneipe in Vienna on June 19th, at 9pm. The event is organized by SöRF FiLM FEST - open air and with free admission! However, there will be a donation box for the benefit of Riverwatch and the fight against the destruction of rivers in the Balkans.

What we do

Balkanrivers

Since 2012, we have been working on protecting Europe’s last free-flowing river jewels – the Balkan Rivers – from a massive dam craze. About 2700 dams are projected to be built between Slovenia and Greece, putting pretty much every river and creek at risk. In cooperation with the German foundation EuroNatur and together with local partners in the Balkans countries, we have been running the campaign “Save the Blue Heart of Europe” in order to prevent this scheme of destruction.

DeDamming

The campaign for the removal of old weirs and dams is a joint initiative of Riverwatch and the Manfred-Hermsen-Stiftung. Hydropower plants and weirs are not built forever. Many of them are old and not serving their intended purpose while destroying our rivers. The removal of particularly harmful dams is an integral part of river restoration, but has been neglected for too long in our regions. For this reason, we want to initiate a dam removal movement in Europe with a focus on the Alpine region and the Balkans.