Balkans Redux: Summer 2018

The Accursed Mountains in Northern Albania and Valbona National Park ©Bennett Barthelemy

Some pivotal experiences are realized in less than expected ways. This was true of my trip to the Balkans in October of 2017. A region that had escaped the internal radar in terms of high on the list locales to experience. Yugoslavia had disappeared in name decades ago, it had broken up, separating from communism. I did remember the associated turmoil/war in the 1990s with ethnic cleansing and it seemed surreal that such a thing could happen in Europe. I imagine this added to the etherealness of the region, placing it fairly far outside the focus of awareness in relation to the better expressed travel destinations of Europe.

Locally in Ojai I have been intrigued and over the years written a couple of editorial features about the vestigial reality and detrimental effects of one dam, the Matilija, just below my home in the Los Padres National Forest. It's been a blight and ripe for demolition for decades but a lack of money to bring it down and convoluted politics seem to keep it alive. Last year, from a visit there with a group of journalists that had been brought in by Patagonia, I learned from Paul Jenkin of the Matilija Coalition that all interested parties were finally on board for seeing it go and how... There were still financial hurdles but it seemed imminent that the dam would finally come down soon and that the Steelhead may yet have a chance to spawn again far up Matilija Creek, the river could once again feed the challenged watershed. It was this span of local concrete, less than 2 miles from home, that is what catapulted me into worlds so far from my comprehension. Within a few months I would be bound for terra incognita. And in June of this year I am committed and set to return again. This distant land has fixed a place in my reality, perhaps my purpose.

I quickly learned that it was not just me that allowed this place to fall off the map - much of the rest of the world has as well but that is quickly changing as the Balkans hold some of the last pristine landscapes/rivers in Europe that have become targets for exploitation - and that the lack of awareness means that these hydropower projects that were far from "green" were being slammed through before the locals could effectively fight it and the rest of the world could raise dissent.

A highly contested hydropower diversion project in Valbona National Park Albania still underway.

I went alone and on my own dime to the Balkans to learn and to share as I could about the concrete and waterways that were threatened or already being exploited for capital gain - 3,000 hydropower projects from Slovenia to Albania.  I crossed some 19 borders in a few weeks and met some of the more inspirational humans yet in 5 countries. I felt a very real sense of urgency and solidarity by the locals, a grassroots flourishing to protect the front and backyards, their livelihoods, their right to healthy drinking water and to be free from unchecked development by money hungry investors and politicians that seemed to care little for the future of the environment and its people. This is for sure happening in our backyards too, with Trump and the gutted EPA and this awareness and solidarity and grassroots activism needs real awakening and flourishing here too.

One thing powerfully shared by Rok Rozman, Slovenian grassroots leader was that the locals protecting the rivers in the Balkans want outside awareness about what is happening, "...to put fear into the bones of politicians doing the dirty work." He eloquently shared that just because a river might be in Rok's backyard it does not belong to him, it belongs to everyone. We should not be divided by borders or religion or politics because that is what the developers and governments want so the exploitative work can go on.

Filmmaker and grassroots activist Rok Rozman on his home river the Sava in Slovenia, his initiative Balkan Rivers Defence is going strong in the Balkans

Catherine Bohne of TOKA - The Organization to Conserve the Albanian Alps - talks to reporters with locals from Valbona National Park/Tropoja in Albania after the 12 court case in Tirana fighting the unchecked development that is diverting the river in the National Park.

Omer shaing a poster brought by another nearby village that started their own non-profit to help locals become educated and aware what is happening to their rivers.

Denis Cizar on his beloved Mura River, a river guide and activist in Slovenia.

Arif, an Albanian shepherd in Valbona National Park, Albania. 

A Croatian hydropower plant... it is believed by many that no one locally gains much from new hydropower projects and that is really just about financial gain for a few, their is enough power generated already. Perhaps looking at and changing levels of consumption internationally can help this?

Omis and another dammed river... Amazing climbing/recreational opportunities are also threatened by the developments.

Croatian climbing destination, epic limestone.

German climber Wolfgang works to help sustainably develop tourism in Valbana National Park along with locals there...

A group of women stand guard keeping out the trucks and developers that wish to take over their water source in Krusica, Bosnia. These women and other river defenders will be featured in Patagonia's new film premiering this month, The Blue Heart of Europe.

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...