Off for Bosnia together with Patagonia Europe to support “Save the Blue Heart of Europe”. A campaign Patagonia support via their 1% For The Planet Program.
April 23rd we will participate in a protest 2½ h. hike to Medna hydropower plant. Read more about the campaign here: http://www.thecleanestline.com/2016/03/save-the-blue-heart-of-europe-the-balkan-rivers-story.html
The main goal of the Balkan Rivers Tour is to highlight the ‘dam tsunami’ issue* and to put pressure on Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama to declare Vjosa river as National park and make a case for other rivers in the region. Balkan Rivers Tour and paddlers are starting on April 16th and via 6 countries, 18 rivers, 11 events and in 35 days, ending the Tour in Albania on May 20st.
Issue* From Slovenia to Albania – 11,000 river kilometers are in pristine, or near natural state, and another 17,000 river kilometers are in good, or satisfying morphological condition—this represents 80% of all river kilometers in the region. 69 species are endemic to these rivers; they live here and nowhere else on the planet. These rivers are especially famous for trout species like the Marble, Softmouth and Prespa. But the most outstanding fish of them all is the Huchen, or Danube salmon, a globally threatened species that lives only in the Danube basin. There are more than 2,700 hydropower plants planned for the region. The entire river network is at risk; not even protected areas, or those hosting endangered species, will be spared. Approximately 113 dam projects would be inside national parks, another 133 inside Natura 2000 sites and many more in other protected areas.