Upper Drina, Bosnia and Herzegovina

River in focus: Upper Drina (from confluence of Tara/Piva up to the first dam reservoir)

Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina (shared basin with Montenegro and Serbia)

Local partners: CEE Bankwatch (lead), CZZS, ACT, Aarhus Center

Project goal: Prevent the construction of Buk Bijela and other hydropower plants on the Upper Drina and its tributaries, protect the unique ecosystem of the Upper Drina basin, and secure permanent conservation for the habitat of the endangered Danube salmon (Hucho hucho).

The Upper Drina near Foča – this is a planned hydropower site. © Bruno D’Amicis

Background

Flowing for nearly 350 kilometres through the rugged Dinaric Alps, the Drina is one of the wildest and most scenic rivers in the Balkans. Originating where the Tara and Piva rivers meet on the border between Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, it carves deep canyons and winds through ancient forests, meadows, and mountain villages before joining the Sava River.

The Drina and its tributaries — including the Tara, Piva, Sutjeska, Ćehotina, Bistrica and Lim — form a vast network of vital waterways that sustain both extraordinary biodiversity and local livelihoods. The river is home to the Danube salmon (Huchen), a globally endangered species found only in a few remaining Balkan rivers. It's clear, fast-flowing waters provide crucial spawning grounds for this iconic fish.

Ongoing threats

On the Bistrica River, a tributary of the Drina near the town of Foca, three dams are under construction. This scenic river was the most important spawning sites for the globally threatened Huchen (Hucho hucho) in the Drina basin. However, the authorities of Republica Srbska decided to ignore this fact and started to destroy this river with financial support of China. © Bruno D’Amicis

For decades, the Upper Drina and her tributaries have been under pressure from large hydropower ambitions. Plans for a cascade of over a dozen hydropower plants — led by the Buk Bijela project near Foča — threaten to alter the river’s natural flow, flood pristine valleys, and fragment the habitat of the Huchen, a species already on the brink of extinction.

Despite strong opposition from environmental groups, scientists, and local residents, the Buk Bijela project has been repeatedly revived — most recently as a joint venture between Republika Srpska’s power utility ERS and Serbia’s Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS). The project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been repeatedly challenged and annulled in court, yet Republika Srpska continues to push forward with a flawed and incomplete new EIA, ignoring cumulative and transboundary impacts. If constructed, Buk Bijela would also open the door for other hydropower projects in the Drina basin, leading to a “death by a thousand cuts” for this unique river system.

Meanwhile, Montenegro has begun to downgrade the protection status of Piva Nature Park to make way for further dams such as Kruševo. These actions violate international commitments to biodiversity and water protection under the Bern Convention, the Energy Community Treaty, and the EU Water Framework Directive.

How we are taking action

The fight to save the Drina from dams has a long history: the slogan “Čuvajmo Drinu, zaustavimo brane!” („Save the Drina, stop the dams“) was floating down the river during a Drina Regatta several years ago. @ Dušan Mićić

Together with our local partners, we are working to prevent the construction of Buk Bijela and safeguard the entire Upper Drina River system.

Our actions include:

Raising awareness: Increasing visibility of the Upper Drina’s natural and cultural value through media outreach, local engagement, and visual storytelling.
Scientific advocacy: Supporting biological research to document the Drina’s biodiversity, particularly the Huchen population, and using scientific data as evidence in advocacy and legal processes.
Legal interventions: Providing counter-arguments to the EIA process and pressing for compliance with environmental laws and international conventions.

Upper Drina, Bosnia and Herzegovina

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