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.

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.

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.

In December 2025, the Bern Convention Standing Committee met in Strasbourg to address critical conservation disputes across the Balkans. Key reviews focused on hydropower developments in Mavrovo National Park (North Macedonia) and along the Neretva River (Bosnia and Herzegovina), alongside the construction of Vlora airport in Albania’s Vjosa Delta.

In September 2025, Vjosa River was officially recognised as a UNESCO "Man and the Biosphere" (MAB) Reserve, during the World Congress of Biosphere Reserves in China. While it brings international visibility, it also comes with expectations for rigorous follow-up and effective management.

The Transboundary River Forum opened dialogue between institutions, civil society organisations, and, most importantly, gave a voice to local communities to actively participate in decision-making for the management of their rivers. At the heart of the Forum lay a shared commitment: the creation of Europe’s first Transboundary Wild River Park, Aoos/Vjosa.

Yesterday, September 24 2025, the Austrian freshwater ecologist Prof. Dr. Fritz Schiemer, Chair of Riverwatch, has been awarded the Wolfgang Staab Nature Conservation Award 2025 by the Schweisfurth Stiftung. The prize recognizes his exceptional scientific and political commitment to protecting the Vjosa River in Albania.

National Park status should safeguard the Vjosa. Ask the Albanian government to continue their commitment to this wild place, and ensure the Vjosa Wild River National Park is protected today, tomorrow, and forever. 

Two years after its landmark designation in March 2023 as Europe’s first Wild River National Park, the Vjosa River is under continuous pressure from extractive industries, infrastructure expansion, and mismanaged development, putting the park’s ecological integrity and its global conservation value at risk.