Serious environmental damage is currently taking place in the Vjosa-Narta protected area in Albania. Since the end of April, bulldozers and excavators have been operating in the core area of the protected landscape, clearing coastal forests, removing dunes and cutting new access roads through previously untouched habitats.

The first comparable regional assessment in over a decade documents the deterioration of Europe's last wild rivers, with pristine stretches dropping from 30% to 23% since 2012 - a staggering loss of 2,450 river kilometres. Albania’s rivers have deteriorated faster than those of any other Balkan country, largely due to hydropower and river regulation. 

Today, a coalition of international and Bosnian scientists, together with leading environmental NGOs, reveal evidence linking the mass mortality of fish and other aquatic life on the affected stretch of the upper Neretva on September 12, 2025, to operational practices at the Ulog Hydropower Plant.