Local communities in Albania have been protesting against the Skavica dam and the planned flooding of 41 villages in the Dibra valley. The Bureau of the Convention recently accepted a new complaint and urged the Albanian authorities to not develop projects which may negatively affect habitats and species.

European governments request that the Albanian government suspends the construction of the airport in the Vjosa-Narta Protected Area due to non-compliance with national and international laws. The Government is urged to start a comprehensive Wildlife Monitoring Programme.

On Friday, December 2, the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention decided to open a case-file against Bosnia-Herzegovina demanding to stop all hydropower plants in the Neretva River system and to establish protected areas, instead.

At the urging of nature conservation organizations, the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention took another look at various projects in the Balkans at its most recent meeting. These include an airport in the middle of the Narta Lagoon in the Vjosa delta in Albania or a series of hydropower plants along the Neretva in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

++ NGOs submit a complaint to the Bern Convention against Bosnia and Herzegovina for permitting dam-building on the pristine upper Neretva ++ A related complaint was submitted to the Energy Community Secretariat in August for failure to protect the pristine upper stretches of the river Neretva from eight planned hydropower projects. ++

During the recent annual meeting of the Standing Committee in Strasbourg, the Committee once again urged the Albanian authorities to suspend all preparations towards both hydropower projects until a strategic environmental impact assessment and social impact studies have been carried out.

++ Hydropower plant projects Poçem and Kalivaç to be suspended immediately. ++ Standing Committee to the Bern Convention recognizes imminent danger to unique ecosystem. ++ Success for nature conservation NGOs in their struggle to save one of Europe’s last free flowing rivers. ++

++ Representatives of the Bern Convention emphasize the conservation value of the river ++ Albanian Government signs concession contracts for HPP Kalivac nevertheless ++ Representatives of the Bern Convention visited the Vjosa in order to investigate to which extent plans for hydropower development are jeopardizing the objectives of the Bern Convention. The on-the-spot appraisal was accompanied by an independent expert.