Poçem

++ Success for nature conservation and affected residents ++

Tirana, May 3, 2017. Big win for the protection of Europe’s last big wild river, the Vjosa in Albania! Yesterday afternoon, the judges of the Albanian Administrative Court in Tirana announced their decision against the construction of the projected hydropower plant “Poçem”: for the time being, the dam must not be constructed. According to the Court ruling, the basis of the construction licence, namely the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as well as the public consultation process, was highly deficient.

Inside the Administrative Court: the judges ruled in favour of Europe’s last big wild river. © Olta Hadushaj

The Vjosa ist the last big wild river in Europe, outside Russia. The Albanian government commissioned a Turkish company with the construction of a large dam. The conservation organization EcoAlbania, Riverwatch and EuroNatur, together with 38 affected residents, filed a lawsuit against this project. Vladimir Meçi, attorney of the plaintiffs: „This is an important step for the protection of the Vjosa and a promising day for the rule of law in our country. It means that affected residents and NGOs can actually expect that their concerns are being heard and genuinely examined in Albanian courts.”

The Vjosa case was the first-ever environmental lawsuit in Albania. The Ministry of Environment and the Turkish construction company have 15 days to appeal this decision. A second-instance decision can be expected by September/October 2017. “We are extremely delighted about this decision. This is a stage win, at the very least. If necessary we will take this case all the way to the Supreme Court in order to save Europe’s last big wild river”, says Ulrich Eichelmann, coordinator of the “Save the Blue Heart of Europe” campaign at Riverwatch.

Attorney Vladimir Meçi, interviewed by Albanian media after the Court announced its decision. This was the first-ever environmental lawsuit in Albania. © Olta Hadushaj

Grounds of this lawsuit were an inadequate EIA as well as the absence of proper public consultation of affected residents. Both procedures are required by Albanian law for projects of this kind. However, their application was a farce. For the EIA commissioned by the project applicants and approved by the Ministry of Environment, no in situ examination was carried out, no data on occurrences of species or projected impacts on ground water was conducted, and 60 percent of the text was simply copy-pasted from other assessments and thus not even site-specific.

Similarly, the public consultation procedure was utterly dubious: the required consultation did indeed take place, but without the affected community – they were simply not invited. Instead, 20 employees of the municipality of Fier – a town 80 kilometers away from Poçem and not even located at the Vjosa – listened to the project applicants’ announcements. 

Success for nature conservation: the queen of European rivers remains free-flowing for the time being. © Gernot Kunz

Nevertheless, the respective Albanian ministries had accepted the application and granted a construction licence. The environmental NGOs and affected residents launched a complaint against this procedure and the first-instance court ruled in their favour today.

“This decision shows the importance of fighting disputed hydropopower projects on a legal level – not only in Albania but in the entire Balkan region. Many – if not most – of the 2700 projeted hydropower plans in the Balkans contradict national and European legislation. We will prepare further legal actions against project that we perceive as unlawful”, signals EuroNatur CEO Gabriel Schwaderer.

Background information

•  The Vjosa is the last big wild river in Europe outside Russia. Entirely unobstructed, she flows through inaccessible gorges and sections with enormous gravel banks and islands on her course of almost 270 kilometers from the Pindus Mountains to the Adriatic Sea. The Albanian government under Prime Minister Edi Rama intended to have a Turkish company construct a hydropower project within the ecologically most valuable stretch of the Vjosa.

• The campaign “Save the Blue Heart of Europe” aims to protect the most valuable rivers in the Balkans. The campaign is coordinated by the NGOs Riverwatch and EuroNatur and carried out together with partner organisations in the Balkan countries.

++ About 30 scientists from Austria, Albania, Germany and Slovenia research Europe’s last wild river for a week ++ Press conference held on river island ++

Kutë/Albania, Vienna, Radolfzell, May 2, 2017. A very unusual press conference was held at the Vjosa in South Albania on April 26 – an initiative like this is without par in Europe. On a gravel island in midst of Europe’s last big wild river – the Vjosa – about 30 scientists from four countries gathered to draw attention to the detrimental impacts that are to be expected from the projected “Poçem” dam. They called upon the Albanian government, foremost upon Prime Minister Edi Rama, to stop the hydropower project and carry out a sound assessment of the environmental impacts (EIA).

Press conference on a Vjosa island: the experts also want to demonstrate how a sound EIA is to be planned out. © jens-steingaesser.de

The Vjosa is the last big wild river of Europe outside Russia. However, scientifically the river is still a blank page. The international research team is about to change that. Between April 23-29, scientists from Austria, Albania, Germany and Slovenia research a river section – five kilometers in length and two kilometers in width – close to the village of Kutë, which is to be drowned in the dam reservoir. Their research, which will continue until this Friday, includes a first survey of flora and fauna as well as a geodetical survey (profile measurement of the river landscape). “We felt compelled to raise awareness with this unusual activity since a dam project is being pushed through without having properly assessed the effects on the entire river system. Furthermore, we want to demonstrate how a sound EIA is to be conducted for one of the most valuable natural landscape in Europe” says Prof. Fritz Schiemer from the University of Vienna and coordinator of this scientific initiative.

Drone footage by Gregor Šubic

First results of the research indicate an astonishing diversity and complexity of the landscape. Many animal and plant species which have long disappeared in European rivers are still abundant at the Vjosa. These include a series of flying insects. Furthermore, 20 different species of fish have been recorded in only two days. In the following weeks, the data will be further analysed and a final report will be presented to the Albanian government.

One of the most important in situ surveys was a first mapping of the river landscape. “Our measurements confirm the massive sediment transport of the Vjosa and indicate that the projected reservoir will most likely be filled with sediments within 20 to 30 years. In the medium run, the generation of energy will thus be drastically reduced. This leads to a lose-lose situation. Further measurements are indispensable,” says Dr. Christoph Hauer from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna.

Scientists at work, here while electrofishing. Paul Meulenbroek/BOKU (right) and Sajmir Beqiraj/Uni Tirana. © Cornelia Wieser

Downstream of the projected dam, the missing sediments blocked by the dam lead to a drop in ground water levels, drying up of the landscape, loss of species and even to coastal erosion. Prof. Aleko Miho from the University of Tirana states: “The Poçem project not only puts the river section at Kutë at risk, but negatively affects the entire downstream river course all the way to the mouth, including the Narta Lagoon. This has not yet been assessed at all. This week’s initiative should be seen as merely a start. In order to properly assess the actual impacts of the projected hydropower plant, a three-year research program is indispensable.

 

Drone footage by Gregor Šubic

 

 

Ulrich Heckes/Büro H2 Munich (in the front) in search of aquatic insects. © Cornelia Wieser

Background information

• The Vjosa is the last big wild river in Europe outside Russia. Along her course of almost 270 kilometers, the river flows entirely unobstructed from the Pindus Mountains to the Adriatic Sea. However, the Albanian government plans to have a hydropower plant constructed at  Poçem. The EIA accepted by the government is a farce. A survey of flora and fauna was never conducted, nor were the ecological and hydrological effects downstream of the dam ever assessed. About 60 percent of the EIA text was simply copy-pasted from other documents and where therefore not even site specific.

• The protection of the Vjosa is a key goal of the “Save the Blue Heart of Europe” campaign, which aims to protect the most valuable rivers in the Balkans. The campaign is coordinated by the NGOs Riverwatch and EuroNatur and carried out together with partner organisations in the Balkan countries. In Albania, the local partner is EcoAlbania.

• Full list of participating scientists

                                                                      

Further information

Prof Fritz Schiemer – University of Vienna  [email protected]  0043/69910188845
Prof Aleko Miho – University of Tirana – [email protected] 0035/682707208
Cornelia Wieser – Riverwatch [email protected] 0043/6504544784

www.balkanrivers.net