Balkans Rivers... October/November 2017

Residents of Omis listen to experts describe what would happen to the Cetina River if a proposed gas plant is built. The river water would be used to cool the plant and it would raise the temperature of the water and have disastrous effects on fish and other wildlife.

A raft on the Mura River in Northeastern Slovenia. This river is part of a river system called the Amazon of Europe. If the proposed dams are built the rafting will no longer exist and with the changing of the microclimate within a few years the vineyards and the wine industry here would suffer catastrophically.

Albania and a day in court calling the government out for grantubg concession for hydropower in Valbona National Park in the Albanian Alps. Construction is ongoing as the court threw the case out saying that the people had no right to bring a case against the government. Appeals will be filed along with criminal charges by local Valbonans and Toka-Albania.org 

Women of Kruscica that are guarding a bridge 24 hours a day in peaceful protest to keep trucks from arriving to being work on the river again. Some of these women told me that they would die to protect this river. They have already faced off and suffered violence at the hands of Bosnian special police.

A man from the US climbs a two month old via ferrata above the Cetina River and Omis in Croatia. An area that relies on tourism but is currently dealing with a gas plant that wants to build at the headwaters. The river will heat up killing fish and other wildlife and jeopardize freshwater as well as the tourist economy the region survives largely upon.

A local activist shares photos showing before, during and after of a realized hydropower project from a nearby village. The village came forward to share what would happen if they let hydropower interests have their way. Rivers are diverted and all but disappear. Over 100,000 people depend on this river for drinking water and the locals fear that the construction could sacrifice the flow and quality.

A climber in Valbona National Park. The river is just below and the region has vast potential for climbing, kayaking, fishing and many other outdoor pursuits with tourism being the mainstay for sustainable economic viability in the region.

All images and video ©Bennett Barthelemy

The last three weeks I spent in the Balkans. 

I floated rivers in kayaks and rafts and cut brush to help fish habitats - I met with NGOs and river activists and explored 6 countries in this region that is little-known to much of Europe and the West. I crossed country borders 17 times and without fail was met with incredible hospitality from the locals. 

Currently governments and developers are pushing to realize 3,000 new hydropower projects that will or are already drastically challenging sustainable livelihoods as the rivers are dammed, re-channeled and drying up. The diverting or damming of rivers destroys wildlife habitat, alters life-ways people have had for centuries, compromises drinking water and tourism opportunities. 

One positive outcome this struggle is realizing is a sense of community - bringing together diverse individuals in defense of rivers and promoting natural resource awareness and goals for long-term sustainability. Rivers express little regard for borders, nationalism, political corruption, corporate greed or religions affiliation. It seems that when individuals begin actively promoting the health of a river that they will engage this reality as well.

With this groundswell of local activism in the Balkans the rest of the world might begin taking notice to what is happening and what is clearly misnamed as "Green Energy." Perhaps pressure will be put on politicians and governments from not only the inside but from the outside as well to stop these hydro projects and to more fully embrace other energy alternatives like wind and solar and let the rivers run free...