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.

On 21 April 2025, Besjana Guri and Olsi Nika received the renowned 2025 Goldman Environmental Prize. The prize is endowed with 200,000 USD.  They were given the prize for their indispensable commitment to igniting a social movement to establish the Vjosa Wild River National Park, the first of its kind in Europe.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature released an assessment report about the controversial water abstraction project from the Shushica River. The report concluded that the proposed project would severely impact the national park’s biodiversity and fail to comply with IUCN national park standards.

On 11 December 2024, a court in Tirana finally ended the threat of hydropower plants on the Shushica - one of the main tributaries of the Vjosa and part of the Vjosa Wild River National Park.

Last Saturday, representatives of the communities of the Shushica river valley and other locals from Vlora and Vjosa valley travelled to Tirana to hand over a special petition to Prime Minister Edi Rama. People from 37 villages in the valley have united in a powerful statement against the water abstraction project from the Shushica River.

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.