European Rewilding Network presents Save the Blue Heart of Europe - Albania
Event Information
About this event
The story of the Vjosa river victory & the people behind it
This September the European Rewilding Network (ERN) is hosting its sixth ‘Rewilding Intro’ event - a mini-webinar series through which our members share their achievements!
One of Europe's last wild rivers
This time our member, EcoAlbania, will share how a small local initiative became a successful international activism campaign.
The campaign brought together many people from various backgrounds and created a united front stopping the plans to dam one of Europe’s last wild rivers, the Vjosa river. In addition it generated a vast support for creating a Vjosa National Park.
Olsi Nika, Executive director, and Besjana Guri, Communication Officer of the project, will tell the story of the Save the Blue Heart of Europe – Albania and its work on the pivotal battle for the protection of the free-flowing Vjosa river.
Purpose-driven activism
You will get a unique opportunity to learn about their purpose-driven activism campaign, its achievements and its relevance for nature protection across Europe. In the Balkan region, only Albania’s Vjosa is fully undammed, including its tributaries, over 270 kilometers of untamed, free-flowing water - which serves as home to 1100 species, including high numbers and vital populations of many protected and endangered species that are listed in national and international laws and conventions. So far, the Vjosa river has remained untouched, but there are 40 more proposals for hydropower dams in the works, making Save the Blue Heart of Europe's work more relevant than ever.
International support for the Vjosa National Park
Their campaign achieved international support from celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and clothing company Patagonia. It has steadily gained momentum on the ground in the Balkans, and it has scored a string of victories like the denial of the plans to dam the Vjosa river and support from the European Parliament towards a Vjosa National Park.
Join us!
If you want to hear more about how these impressive achievements were done please join us on the 30th of September at 11.00 CET!
Organiser Rewilding Europe
Organiser of European Rewilding Network presents Save the Blue Heart of Europe - Albania
As Rewilding Europe we want to make Europe a wilder place, with much more space for wild nature, wildlife and natural processes. In bringing back the variety of life, we explore new ways for people to enjoy and earn a fair living from the wild. This is done through creating large areas of wild nature and abundant wildlife across our continent with the help of our local teams and partners, working in support of both Europe’s nature and people.
