For weeks, people across Albania, and in many cities worldwide, have been protesting against the destruction of the Vjosa Delta and protected areas in Albania. Learn more about these complex developments and insights into nature conservation in Albania.

The EU Parliament today adopted its annual report on Albania, sending one of its strongest messages yet on the importance of protecting nature, upholding environmental safeguards and ensuring that EU standards are respected throughout the accession process.

The long-standing battle to protect the Lower Sava River in Slovenia has reached a critical tipping point. 

While regional youth activism thrives in neighbouring countries, the Youth for Rivers camp aimed to awaken that same environmental energy in Montenegro, setting local youth on the path to becoming river defenders.

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.

Despite her status as a "nature guardian," Andreja Slameršek has become the target of retaliatory litigation by the energy sector for exposing irregularities in environmental studies of the Mokrice Hydroelectric Power Plant in Slovenia. In response, activists and legal experts have launched a collective front to protect both the Stupčanica River's biodiversity and the right to public participation.

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.

On 14 March, International Day of Action for Rivers, the documentary "Komarnica: The Wild That Remains" will premiere. An exclusive pre-screening webinar on 12 March will offer an early look, while a growing petition continues to rally international support for the protection of the Komarnica River.

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. 

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.