News - Press Release

Kosovo violates international law

 18.11.2024

EcoZ, together with the NGOs Pishtarët, GAIA Kosovo, and Riverwatch, submitted a complaint to the Energy Community Secretariat in Vienna/Austria against Kosovo regarding the hydropower plants in Sharr National Park. 

100 People Unite to Protect Balkans' Wild Rivers and their defenders

Under the banner “Uniting Voices for the Blue Heart of Europe” this year’s Balkan River Summit brought together over 100 international river conservation experts, scientists and activists in Podgorica, Montenegro. The event aimed at uniting river defenders to protect the valuable Balkan rivers and to speak out against the imminent and systematic threat the rivers are facing.

Una River saved from illegal dam construction

 29.08.2024

Local communities and environmental NGOs are celebrating the news that Croatian state authorities have ordered all construction on the Una River to stop immediately.

Criminal complaint filed against Una River dam construction permits

 09.08.2024

In a significant step forward for nature protection, the Croatian authorities announced yesterday that they are taking legal action against the construction of a dam on the Una River within a protected area of environmental importance.

Sarantaporos Science Week: On a research mission for Europe's first Transboundary Wild River National Park

Recently, an international team of scientists worked together to carry out extensive field research on the Sarantaporos River, a tributary of the Aoos, united under a common mission: to bring the whole Aoos/Vjosa River catchment under a strong protection status by creating Europe's first Transboundary Wild River National Park.

How well do the Balkan states protect their rivers?

A new report published by ClientEarth provides an interim assessment of how effectively six Western Balkan countries are safeguarding their rivers by incorporating key EU laws related to hydropower projects into their national legislation. The analysis reveals that there has been some progress. However, the report also highlights specific systemic failures to comply with the EU framework.

Vjosa Delta Science Week 2024: Science Delegation Explores Intact Vjosa Delta

 26.04.2024

From 22 to 28 April 2024, a science delegation from Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, and Italy collected multidisciplinary data in the partially undiscovered and intact Vjosa Delta. Every observation of this expedition aims to unveil the ecological importance of this area and advocate for its inclusion in the Vjosa Wild River National Park (WRNP) in accordance with IUCN standards.

Protest on the Albanian Shushica River: Vjosa National Park in danger

12 mayors and numerous other residents of the Shushica Valley and other regions of the Vjosa National Park, activists, lawyers and scientists gathered this morning in the village of Kuç on the banks of the Shushica River. They are protesting the plans of the government in Tirana to take the water from the Shushica and channel it to the Mediterranean

Residents of the Shushica Valley continue their protest against the diversion of the river

On December 16 2023 local residents from the villages of the Shushica Valley, part of the Vjosa River National Park, along with activists, held another protest in Kuç, against the project to divert water from the Lëpusha source for the construction of the Himara water supply system. After more than 5 months of efforts, residents from the Vlora River area remain

Skavica mega dam: Albanian court to scrutinise special law for U.S. contractor Bechtel

 25.09.2023

Nature conservation and human rights organisations have secured an important first milestone in the fight against the planned 210 MW Skavica hydropower plant in the Albanian municipalities of Kukës and Dibër: a constitutional complaint submitted

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