++The scientific data of the 2 year study on ecosystem and ecology of Vjosa River are published +
Tirana, December 6 th 2018. More than 60 scientists from Albania, Austria and Germany have collected their knowledge about the biodiversity and ecology of the Vjosa – the last wild river in Europe and published it on a scientific volume. Some of the data were published for the first time in Acta ZooBot Austria and were presented in Tirana on a workshop organized from the University of Tirana, University of Vienna and BOKU University, Vienna.
On the pulpit Prof. Fritz Schimmer, from the University of Vienna. In the panel: Prof. Aleko Miho from the Faculty of Natural Sciences – University of Tirana, Prof. Christoph Hauer, from BOKU University, Prof. Sajmir Beqiraj from Facuty of Natural Sciences – University of Tirana. Foto: B.Guri/ EcoAlbania
The Vjosa river is considered a nature laboratory which can’t be found in Europe anymore. As such, the Vjosa can serve as an invaluable reference system for future renaturation projects. In the rest of Europe such natural conditions have long gone and knowledge of how natural rivers look like and function is lost. However, in the Vjosa valley are planned 40 hydropower plants, eight of them in the mainstream, constituting a major threat to the river ecosystem and communities living along it. “These projects would destroy the environmental services that this ecosystem provides for people living in the Vjosa Valley and would lead to the loss of its biodiversity. While, the expected damages and threats from hydropower plants have not been adequately assessed in the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIA) presented for the Poçem HPP project”, said Prof. Fritz Schimmer, from the University of Vienna.
-
The workshop was attended by other professors for University of Tirana, students and NGO-s. Foto: B. Guri/ EcoAlbania
With this publication, scientists provide a starting point for further studies and a basis for ongoing environmental monitoring according to EU standards for Environmental Impact Assessment. “We hope that the provision of these scientific data will contribute to recognizing the extraordinary value of Vjosa and bring closer the communication of decision-makers with the scientific community and convince them to preserve the Vjosa River as a National Park, said Prof. Aleko Miho, from the Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tirana.
The team of scientists from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna and the Polytechnic University of Tirana is studying the sediment transport in Vjosa and in this workshop they presented the preliminary data on the importance of sediment management. “According to preliminary study data, the Poçem hydropower reservoir would be filled with sediments for a period of 30-50 years, bringing the Poçem hydropower plant out of operation. While during the operating period it would require several hundred thousand euros of costs for management and sediment treatment. The case of hydropower plants in Vjosa would bring a lose-lose-lose situation”, said Christoph Hauer, from BOKU University.
