The river Radika in the Mavrovo National Park would be affected by the water drainage and daily hydropeaking of the hydropower plant Boskov Most © Theresa Schiller/EuroNatur

++License granted by the Macedonian Ministry of Environment was illegal ++ Violation of national environmental law ++ Nature conservationists call upon financier EBRD to withdraw from project “Boskov Most” immediately++ According to an official statement by the Macedonian administrative court, plans for the large hydropower project Boskov Most in the Macedonian Mavrovo National Park are devoid of any legal basis.

Protest against projected hydropower plants inside Mavrovo National Park. Residents join the  Balkan Rivers Tour-Team © Jan Pirnat

++ Day 19 of the Balkan Rivers Tour: protest action against dam construction inside Mavrovo National Park ++ Hydropower projects endanger the last Balkan lynxes ++ On May 4, an international alliance of kayakers, anglers, residents and nature conservationists protested against the construction of hydropower plants inside Mavrovo National Park.

Save the Sana – stop KELAG: under this slogan, about 200 people protested at the Sana in Bosnia and Herzegovina today © Jan Pirnat

++ Day 8 of the Balkan Rivers Tour: 200 people protest against the dam construction at the Sana river in Bosnia and Herzegovina ++ Today, an international alliance of protested on the river Sana in Bosnia and Herzegovina against the hydropower plant “Medna”, which is currently under construction. The Sana is one of the last remaining rivers in Europe that host healthy populations of the Huchen.

While 2700 dams are projected to be built between Slovenia and Albania, dams are being torn down one after another in the US in order to restore their rivers. Now, the removal of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River has been approved, rendering it the biggest dam removal project in history.

About 150 paddlers opened the Balkan Rivers Tour at Bohinj Lake in Slovenia today. © Matic Oblak

++ Grand kayak tour to save the Balkan Rivers starts today ++ Today, about 150 paddler are opening the Balkan Rivers Tour on the Sava river in Slovenia. Led by former Slovenian Olympic athlete Rok Rozman, kayakers from all over Europe will paddle the most stunning and most threatened rivers in the Balkans over the next 35 days.

The Vjosa river. The EU calls for its protection, but the Albanian government wants to have hydropower plants constructed © Christian Baumgartner/Nationalpark Donau-Auen

Today, the European Parliament criticized the Albanian government for the planning of hydropower projects and called upon them to be more considerate of protected areas and other sensitive nature areas, especially national parks. In the current Enlargement Report that was adopted by the parliament in Brussel yesterday, the Vjosa river is specifically mentioned.

Location of the opening event: Lake Bohinj © Peter Koren

We are happy to invite you to the opening event of an unusual international protest action: the opening event of the BALKAN RIVERS TOUR, April 16th 10:00 to 12:00, Bohinj Lake, Slovenia. For the first time, a group of kayakers from all over Europe will paddle rivers from Slovenia to Albania.

The free-flowing days of the beautiful Tua River in Portugal are numbered: very soon, hundreds of hectares of farmland, one of Europe’s finest rivers for mountain and white water sports and one of the continent’s oldest railway lines will be flooded for the Foz Tua dam, a dam that nobody wants but everybody will have to pay for.

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