Press Release

22 March 2022. The theme of this year’s World Water Day is “making the invisible visible” with a special emphasis on the importance of groundwater. Groundwater is quantitatively the most important freshwater resource as there is 100 times more groundwater than surface water¹. In fact, it is where we source most of our fresh drinking water. Of similar importance, without groundwater, rivers would run dry and face a deterioration of water quality and ecosystem health. 

It isn’t magic that purifies groundwater and rivers

The groundwater filled sediments below rivers are a living resource that is home to a significant biodiversity of animals and microorganisms that are essential for purifying water. These organisms dwell and work in the darkness and are hardly ever seen, but without them, our groundwater would be contaminated and our rivers would be more polluted.

Groundwater fauna can be considered living fossils as several of the species living below our feet have existed isolated for millions of years. The communities are composed of many species of crustaceans, mites, snails, and worms. These blind and pigmentless creatures of the dark provide essential ecosystem services through unique eco-engineering roles: by aerating and reworking the sediments, they stimulate bacteria and help purify the water, breaking down contaminants and eliminating disease-causing germs and viruses. Living in the sediments below, they act as the liver of rivers.

Dr Christian Griebler, professor of limnology at the University of Vienna in Austria says, “During the summer of 2021, my research team conducted the first exploration of groundwater fauna in the sediments of the Shushica and Bënçe, two tributaries of the Vjosa River in Albania. In only 20 samples with 200-300 liters in total, we found more than 5,000 specimens of groundwater animals. The samples, without doubt, contain many species new to science.”

The give and take between groundwater and rivers  

Rivers are in constant exchange with the groundwater system they are embedded in. The water flows from the surface into the sediments, where fauna and microorganisms purify it, and then the water flows back into the river, cleaner than before. Healthy groundwater ecosystems with their “working-class heroes” rely on a functioning interaction between a living, dynamic river, and the sediments below.

This healthy connection between groundwater and rivers can be affected by the deterioration of rivers. If rivers are channelised or dammed, for instance, this can lead to the damage of the groundwater biodiversity and consequentially affect the quality of the water². In essence, healthy rivers need healthy underground fauna – and vice versa.

Protecting groundwater and its unique biodiversity means also protecting rivers

Some of the most valuable areas for groundwater sources are in the Balkan. The rivers between Slovenia and Greece are without par in Europe and an enormous drinking water resource for local communities.

However, these lifelines are threatened by more than 3,500 dam projects. If built, it would destroy this groundwater source on a large scale. It is a race against time, to describe the many unknown species in groundwater and study their contribution to water purification before they become extinct because of the increasing anthropogenic impacts. Fortunately, more and more people are becoming aware of the Blue Heart of Europe and are fighting to protect it.

++The Standing Committee of the Bern Convention expresses concern about the possible reduction of the network of national Protected Areas and delays in the preparation of the River Basin Management Plan++

Tirana, December 8, 2021. Three environmentally sensitive issues received attention at the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention held on November 29–December 3, 2021 in Strasbourg: the protection status of the Vjosa River; the airport project in the Vjosa-Narta Protected Area; and the process of reviewing the boundaries of the network of Protected Areas. The Committee decided to keep the issue of the Vjosa River open as well as to conduct an assessment of the situation on the field in 2022 in relation to Vlora International Airport.

While the Albanian government is close to finalizing the declaration of the Vjosa River area as a Nature Park (Category IV), the Standing Committee asked the Albanian authorities to explain why the proposal of EcoAlbania and the International Union of Protected Areas (IUCN), based on extensive studies, to declare the Vjosa River a National Park (Category II) has not been considered. “With the support of 20 other organizations and based on the proposals of the IUCN, we submitted an official proposal to the Ministry of Tourism and Environment in February 2021 and to date we have not received any official response regarding this proposal. Although we are aware of the process initiated by the Ministry of Tourism and Environment to declare the Vjosa River a Natural Park, we continue to strongly support the proposal to give the Vjosa River and its tributaries the highest protection status, that of a National Park”, said Olsi Nika, Executive Director of EcoAlbania.

The Standing Committee reiterated its deep concern over the plans to urbanize the Vjosa-Narta Protected Area, including the construction of an airport, and urged the government to reconsider those plans. The Committee highlighted that the natural values ​​of the Vjosa-Narta Protected Area are evident and a strong protection regime is needed. The construction of Vlora International Airport and the plans for urbanization of the Vjosa-Narta Protected Area have been opposed by a broad coalition of about 50 national and international organizations.

The Vlora International Airport project will now be under the scrutiny of the Bern Convention. The Committee decided to establish a group of independent international experts to conduct a field assessment by 2022. The field assessment mission will see in detail the situation of the airport, which is under construction despite the fact that no Strategic Environmental Assessment for the Vjosa-Narta area has been completed. “The field visit of a special mission of the Bern Convention is an expression of the extraordinary concern of national and international organizations regarding the urbanization of the Vjosa-Narta area and the irreversible negative consequences of Vlora Airport in the biological diversity of Albania. We call on the government to protect the Protected Areas and to give up their intention to turn them on construction sites”, said Taulant Bino, President of the Ornithological Association of Albania (AOS).

Finally, the Committee also expressed concern about the possible reduction of the national network of Protected Areas. Among other things, he called on the Albanian authorities to cooperate with both local actors and the international community, such as the IUCN and the Energy Community Treaty, when taking decisions that could affect the long-term sustainability of nature conservation in Albania.