Following seven days of intensive fieldwork, an international team of over 70 scientists and students has officially concluded Una Science Week.
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.
163 experts call for an immediate halt to the hydropower project, citing an extremely flawed Environmental Impact Assessment and widespread irreversible ecological damage.
As we celebrate the third anniversary of the Vjosa Wild River National Park, a study released today warns that the "Wild River" is facing an invisible crisis: massive water abstraction.
More river kilometres have been saved! The Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction, and Ecology of Republika Srpska has officially rejected the Environmental Impact Study for the proposed Nevačka small hydropower plant in the Bosna Basin in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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.
Blue Heart partner Polekol has submitted an official letter to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, warning of escalating pressures that threaten to irreversibly damage one of Serbia's most valuable cultural and natural heritage sites: the Studenica River basin.
In September 2025, Vjosa River was officially recognised as a UNESCO "Man and the Biosphere" (MAB) Reserve, during the World Congress of Biosphere Reserves in China. While it brings international visibility, it also comes with expectations for rigorous follow-up and effective management.
"LIFE IS A RIVER" is a new song from the legendary Darko Rundek, celebrating the wild rivers of the Balkans.



















