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Dear friends, This is the periodic newsletter of EcoAlbania (The Center for Protection of Natural Ecosystems in Albania). Here you can find the latest news on our work and activities, as well as publications regarding important environmental issues in Albania. You're kindly invited to share it with your friends and networks! |
Milieukontakt Albania, EcoAlbania and Lex Ferenda organized on 14 June 2016 the opening meeting of the project “HELP – CSO,Enforcement Horizontal Legislation Promotion –CSO”. In his speech Mr. Rezart Kapedani, grants manager of ACHIEVE stressed that one of the expected outcomes of this project will be the organization of CSO forums and preparation of recommendations regarding the implementation of horizontal legislation, which will be lobbied to be included in the Chapter 27 of the Report of Albania for the EU.
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Within the frame of the "Save the Blue Heart of Europe" campaign, EcoAlbania together with international partner organizations RiverWatch and EuroNatur brought to the attention of the European Parliament and European Commission hydropower issue in the last natural river in Europe. Directed by Deputy. EP President, Ulrike Lunacek, on June 29th, 2016 was held a special roundtable of discussion dedicated to the Balkan rivers and to the "Save the Blue Heart of Europe" campaign, where the main attention was focused on Vjosa River.
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July 14th, 2016, Poçem, Mallakastër. Residents of the Vjosa valley, mainly from Kuta village protested today against the construction of Poçem hydro-power by blocking the national road Levan-Tepelenë near Poçem village. This is not the first protest they organize. In addition they have the support of many national and international environmental organizations. They have opposed from the beginning the construction of the hydropower plant and they have asked to the Albanian government to proclaim the Vjosa National Park and to not allow the construction of any HPP within the entire valley.
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The “Protecting Rivers” group started to operate non formally as such in 2015 by coordinating joint actions, lobbying, advocating, civic reaction, etc., against the big boom of Hydro Power Plants construction. In the last decade mostly by political directives rather than by scientific studies, planning of more than 500 hydro-power plants are spread across the territory of Albania turning out into an extraordinary pressure on our rivers.
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Just in time for the World Rivers Day on September 25, the last big wild river of Europe – the Vjosa in Albania – receives prominent support from all over the world. In a joint memorandum, 228 scientists from 33 countries call upon the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama to protect the Vjosa and refrain from the construction of hydropower plants, at least in the coming three years. During this time period, a proper Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is to be carried out on the yet almost entirely unexplored river.
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Due to the missing of the public consultation about the construction of Poçem HPP and the negligence of the authorities to consider the demands of the residents, the local people from the affected villages ask to the government the realization of a new public hearing in the area.
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On 5th October 2016 in Përmet was held the training “The right to access to justice in environmental issues”, part of a series of training developed in the frame of the project HELP-CSO – Horizontal Enforcement Legislation Promotion- CSO. Training topic was related to building skills of local organizations in the right to access to justice and the right to access on litigation of environmental cases. The training was designed based on an analysis made about the lack of knowledge that CSOs have on horizontal legislation, report of which will be published at the end of the project.
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The planned destruction of the Vjosa, one of Europe’s last big wild rivers, is now being challenged in court. Today, the nature conservation organisations EcoAlbania, Riverwatch and EuroNatur, as well as 38 affected residents filed a lawsuit against the projected hydropower plant “Poçem” on the Vjosa with the Albanian Administrative Court. In it, the plaintiffs demand the suspension of any decisions and permits for this dam project, which was to be constructed by a Turkish consortium.
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Shortly before Christmas, the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and other government representatives got mail from renowned scientists from Austria and Germany. The experts had analysed the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the hydropower project Poçem on the Vjosa river in Albania. The EIA attests the project to be environmentally sound. According to the scientists, however, the EIA is a farce. It does not even meet minimum requirements and is thus not suitable to predict environmental impacts of the projected hydropower plant
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