Projects 2024

This year we've received 38 qualified applications from 23 countries on 5 continents. Reading about all these planned hydropower projects is devastating - but reading through the applications about amazing projects, determinded activists and the hard work some people put into the fight for their rivers makes everything a lot better! It shows once again that there is a need for this kind of funding - and it motivates us to keep doing what we are doing. For 2024 we have chosen 11 projects from 11 different countries, thereof 8 brand new projects and 3 continued grants:

New projects 2024

Salvemos Chilina from Arequipa, Peru. These grassroots activists are trying to protect their home River Rio Chili from a huge hydropower development that would have horrendous effects on the ecosystem, agriculture and tourism in the whole Chilina valley. They have been really defiant so far, logged legal complaints, initiated public hearings and got a lot of support and publicity for their campaign. We are happy to support them to continue their work and to help finance experts statements on the effects of the proposed dam to further their legal work.

Nicoleta Nour, an individual activist from Slovenia working alongside the Slovenian Native Fish Society, campaigning for the protection of the Sava River and in particular against the Mokrice Hydro Power Plant. Her campaign heavily aims at and includes the local communities that will be affected by the Hydro Power development: with workshops and events, promo materials, community actions, group discussions and a media campaign. The Sava River is connecting four countries and represents one of Europe´s ecologically and culturally most interesting river networks, with large sections still free flowing and extensive floodplains and alluvial forests preserved until the present day. The Mokrice HPP is one of nineteen hydropower dams are projected along the Sava alone and in addition to those almost all tributaries are subject to further development plans. The decision about the Mokrice HPP is crucial for all the other planned developments on the Sava and therefore is the main objective in the fight to protect the Sava.

The Aetomilitsa Residents Initiative from Greece is fighting against dozens of small hydropower plants (SHPs) currently planned in the Sarantaporos River - a tributary to the Vjosa River network. The area is a NATURA 2000 site and the Vjosa is Europe's first River National Park - and yet its tributaries and wider river network are still under threat. The Citizen's Initiative is doing community work, informing the public and organizing protests. Furthermore they are fighting with all available legal tools to defend their river and to participate in decision-making for their area and need financial support for their legal battle.

The local initiative Hijos del Rio is working on protecting the rivers of the Napo region of Ecuador. Their main focus at the moment is the opposition of the proposed “La Merced de Jondachi” hydroelectric project which would dam and divert the legendary Upper Jondachi River. The Jondachi is not only home to world-class rapids but is also an important free-flowing river corridor providing ecological connectivity between a critical transition zone between the Andes and the Amazon. In 2024 these activists are co-hosting the Jondachi Fest as well as a community watershed conference with local authorities and the Ministry of Environment about the conservation of the Rio Jondachi. They also run a free kayaking school for local indigenous youth, introducing them to the world of whitewater kayaking and conservation, and, above all, joining forces to protect their home rivers.

Spasimo Ričinu is a small group of volunteers fighting for the Rječina River in Croatia. The upper part of this river is listed as NATURA 2000 area and yet there is a new dam project planned: the Kukuljani Hydro Power Project is supposed to be build only 2,5 km from the source and would affect the whole river. For years these volunteers have been doing community work, informing the public, worked on river revitalization and initiated research projects - we are happy to support them in their work.

The Amazonian Rivers Initiative opposing the Chepete-Bala HPP proposal in the Beni River Basin (Bolivia), organised by Rios to Rivers. The proposed Chepete-Bala mega dam for the Beni River would flood 781 km2 of Amazon rainforest, forcibly relocate ~6,000 Indigenous people and puts the food security, rights, lives & cultures of the Beni River Basin’s people in great peril. The Amazonian Rivers Initiative seeks to empower the Indigenous communities to exercise their constitutional right to manage their territories as well as to connect the Beni’s Indigenous peoples with their native waters through kayaking, leadership, & advocacy training programs.

RiverLov - a grassroots initiative made up of local activists, ecologists and lawyers in Montenegro that came together to spark civic engagement and build strategies to protect the last remaining free flowing rivers in the Balkans. Their main objective at the moment is to stop the Komarnica Dam project and we support them in financing the 2024 Komarnica Protest Camp - a five day camp featuring educational sessions, art, civil engagement activities, a concert, outdoor river events and media campaigns.

Individual activist Dejan Furtula, working alongside Citizen Association Eko Centar Visegrad, towards the protection of the Rzav River in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Rzav area is planned to become a nature park, but this doesn't prevent investors of small Hydro Power Plants from closing in - at least 3 SHPs are proposed for the Rzav River. Dejan plans a Kayaking Festival and the production of a short film to show the beauty of the river to advertise its touristic value.

 

Continued Grants 2024

We continue to support Varig vern av Raundalselva - a local volunteer team in Voss (Norway) campaigning against a combined hydropower / flood prevention scheme proposed for the Raundalselva River. We were impressed with all they got done in 2023 and excited that we were able to facilitate a partnership between this project and our Partner Palm Equipment that made an awesome film about the Raundalselva possible. We are excited to see what they are up to in 2024!

We also continue to support The Grand Salmon - these three women went on a 1,000+ miles source-to-sea journey of the Salmon River (USA) to promote the removal of the four Lower Snake River dams and to halt the Stibnite Gold Mine Project in order to save the rapidly decreasing salmon populations from extinction. They are now producing a film to tell the story of the Snake River Basin and the threats it is facing which were are happy to support!

Another familiar face among the 2024 Grantees is Iván Morales with Pueblos Unidos de la Cuenca Antigua por los Ríos Libres from Veracruz, Mexico. For years now he has been fighting for his home river, the Antigua River Basin that is threatened my multiple massive hydropower projects. We supported him already in 2022 when he went on a trip down the river to photograph and map the threatened ecosystems and the river's importance to the communities. In 2024 he will take his pictures on a tour to the affected communities to inform them about planned dams, the threats they are facing and to foster a broad basis for the resistance against the hydropower developments.

Projects 2023

For 2023 we gave 13 grants - twice as many as last year and by far the most we have ever given in one year. The quality and quantity of this year's applications has blown us away and for the first time the number of projects that met our criteria were considerably more than we could afford to fund. But don't you worry - we made it work!

New projects 2023

One of the 2023 grantees is Voss Naturvernlag - a local volunteer team in Voss (Norway) campaigning against a combined hydropower/ flood prevention scheme proposed for the Raundalselva River. Norway is more than oversaturated with hydropower and we love that finally some resistance is forming there.

We gave grants to the Citizen Associaten Buturovic-Polje (Bosnia and Herzegovina) campaigning for the Neretvica River as well as to the Futaleufú Riverkeeper (Chile) working towards making the Futaleufú a River National Park.

World and Danube from Serbia are campaigning against an infrastructure & river management project that will cost 170 hectares of the Danube's floodplain. They are in the middle of several court cases and needed financial support for lawyers and expert statements.

We support Ben Rowlands and his campaign Save the Austari-Jökulsá against several hydropower projects in Iceland as well as Darby McAdams who is producing a film on the Batoka Dam on the Zambezi River (Zambia).

The Dibang Resistance are locals campaigning against a total of 17 proposed dams on the Dibang River in India, threatening the ecosystem and the indigenous people living off the river.

Protect Río Grande are locals and farmers campaigning against a massive hydropower project that will affect the water balance in their home valley in Spain.

We also support Călin Dejeu - a local hero fighting a multitude of hydro projects on several rivers in Romania as well as the local activists fighting a court case against the Skavica dam project: Save the Drin River (Albania).

Continued Grants 2023

We continue to support The Grand Salmon - last year these three women went on a source-to-sea journey of the Salmon River (USA) kayaked 1,000+ miles from the sources of the three primary tributaries to Idaho's Salmon River all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Their goal is to promote the removal of the four Lower Snake River dams and a moratorium on the Stibnite Gold Mine Project in order to save the rapidly decreasing salmon populations from extinction. They have and are still hosting community days and educational events and are now producing a film to tell the story of the Snake River Basin and the threats it is facing.

We also continue the support of the Skrbuša River Defence: a small group of local activists fighting a court case against the construction of a mini-hydro power plant on the river Skrbuša in Montenegro. They have been successful so far in delaying construction and are working towards the final termination of the contruction contracts.

We also continue to fund Marlène Devillez with her project Rivières les Sentinelles (France). The goal of this project is to educate about the threats our rivers are facing and to connect kayaking with river conservation and science.

Projects 2022

We are happy to announce the 2022 Free Rivers Fund Grantees! We had more than 30 applications this year from all over the world - it is so exciting for us to read through these and to get to know all of these projects and activists fighting for their rivers. We are happy to be able to support a total of 7 grantees this year, thereof 5 brand new projects and 2 continued grants - check them out:

New projects 2022

One of the new projects we will support in 2022 are the Hudson Riverkeepers, who are working towards dam removal on the Hudson river and its tributaries (USA). They successfully pushed for removal of several damns in the past, have worked to restore habitat after the dams were removed and have built broad community support for more dam removal. In the Hudson River Estuary watershed there are more than 1,600 dams – most of them antiquated and obsolete - we hope we can support them in tearing some more of those down!

Another new grantee in 2022 is The Grand Salmon - a source-to-sea journey of the Salmon River (USA) with the goal of promoting the removal of the four Lower Snake River dams and a moratorium on the Stibnite Gold Mine Project in order to save the rapidly decreasing salmon populations from extinction. The three women will be kayaking and ski touring 1,000+ miles from the sources of the three primary tributaries to Idaho's Salmon River all the way to the Pacific Ocean. On their way they will trace and follow the natural outmigration of the anadromous fish, host community days and educational events and produce a film to tell the story of the Snake River Basin and the threats it is facing. The only thing we don't like about this project really is that we won't be part of this trip - but we are happy to support them either way!

We will also support a small group of activists from Montenegro fighting the construction of a mini-hydro power plant on the river Skrbuša. They have been fighting and protesting for their river since 2020 and have been successful so far in delaying construction. They are working towards the final termination of the contruction contracts and we are rooting for them to succeed!

Another new grantee in 2022 is Iván Morales from Veracruz, Mexico. For years now he has been fighting for his home river, the Antigua River Basin that is threatend my multiple massive hydropower projects. He has been informing the public about the problems of hydropower, building community support for the protection of this river and even published a whole book about the river and the proposed hydropower projects. In 2022 he is planning a trip down the river to visit the affected communities, inform them about planned dams and the threats they are facing and connect them with the conservation organizations that oppose the planned hydropower projects. He will photograph along the way to show the threatend ecosystems and the river's importance to the communities and to gain visual material to reinforce and support the arguments against the proposed dams.

Last but not least we will fund Marlène Devillez with her project Rivières les Sentinelles (France). The goal of this project is to educate about the threats our rivers are facing and to connect kayaking with river conservation and science. We are especially happy that she is doing all of this in French - as French rivers are threatend by a wave of hundreds of newly planned and approved hydropower projects and we need people like Marlène to inform, motivate, connect and nurse a wave of activists to oppose them!

Continued grants

We will continue the support for Mateusz Mazur from Poland, a grassroots activists working alongside the WWF Polska River Keepers fighting for the Łomnica River. He monitors this one and other rivers, reports pollution and illegal activities on rivers, catalogues and tracks migration barriers and educates the public. We were so impressed with how much he got done in 2021 while asking for only a little support from us - we are happy to continue the support and are excited to see what he will achieve this year.

We will also continue the support of Wolne Rzeki from Poland. They are protecting a number of pristine rivers, established a small nature reserve, are mapping and measuring artificial barriers and are working on weir removal. We are super impressed with their work so far and are excited to see how they will progress in 2022.

All in all we are impressed by not only the number but also the quality of applications this year and are especially excited to see more internation applications - which means the Free Rivers Fund becomes wider known and we are hopeful we will be able to support more river activists all over the world in the future.

Projects 2021

With another record number of applications it gets harder and harder to chose every year. We will continue to work on obtaining more funds to be able to give out as many grants as possible! For 2021 we have chosen six grantees in total, thereof three new ones and three of the projects from 2020 with whom we will continue the support.

New projects 2021

One of the new ones is "Wolne Rzeki" from Poland - they are protecting a number of pristine rivers, established a small nature reserve, are mapping and measuring artificial barriers and are working on weir removal - their goal for 2021 is the removal of first barriers - and of course that is music to our ears. We are excited they found us and we are able to support them in their work!

We will support another activist from Poland: Mateusz Mazur, a grassroots activists working alongside the WWF Polska River Keepers. He is fighting for the Łomnica River, which is only 20 km long but has 165 barriers! He has cataloged and described them all by himself, he monitors this one and other rivers, reports pollution and illegal activities on rivers, tracks migration barriers and educates the public. His main goal for 2021 is to take action to remove a few migration barriers in the estuary section - again, music to our ears and we are happy to be able to support him in his work.

The third new grantee this year is the organisation "Sharawatch", an organisation fighting against mini hydropower plants on the rivers Lepenac, Durlov and Kaludjerka in Kosovo as well as camapaigning against any constructions in the Shara National park.

Continued grants

We will continue the support of TOKA in Albania who have been and are still fighting the 14 (fourteen!) proposed dams in the beautiful Valbona valley since 2016. We have been very impressed with their organisation and their work so far and our heart goes out to the unique and pristine Valbona river.

We will also continue the support of the project "Save the Heart of Kendal". These activists are fighting against the construction of a large dam as part of a proposed Flood Risk Management Scheme and are campaigning for a Natural Flood Management Scheme in the river Kent catchment. They managed to stirr up a lot of attention and people last year and we are happy to continue our support and are rooting for them to succeed!

Another grantee from 2020 we will continue to support is "God Save Rzav" from Serbia. In 2020 they managed to stop the issuing of permits for the construction of 18 small hydroelectric power plants in the Municipality of Arilje in Serbia as well as initiated the decision against issuing permits for small HPP in Uzice and Pozega. What a win! For 2021 they plan to do the same for another four neighbouring municipalities and also influence them to ban the issuance of permits for small HPP and thus protect the rivers in all of Western Serbia from the construction of hydropower plants . They also aim to bring together rafting clubs and activists from across the region to protest against the 2700 (!) planned small hydropower plants in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Macedonia and Albania. We are happy to able to support them and are excited to see what they will achieve!

As you see, the grantees of 2021 are not as international as usual. This is partly due to the fact that we have not gotten a lot of international applications. If you want to change that, help us make the Free Rivers Fund more popular and spread the word to people that could need our help! Furthermore this year we have gotten a high percentage of applications that did not really fit our aim - direct action for free flowing rivers. If we manage to obtain more funding this year we might open up our criteria to also accomodate more diverse river conservation work - stay tuned! If you want to know more about the decision process and the challenge of granting continue readinge here. 

FRF grantees 2020

Projects 2020

Last year we have granted projects from different parts in the world. This year, applications came again from all over the planet with a large number of applications from the Balkans. Most projects are new initiatives, but we also continue our cooperation with some successful projects from last year.

For example, Balkanka from Bulgaria, received funding for a flow-meter in 2019. Still impressed with how efficiently they work, we decided to support them with equipment again.

We will also continue our support of the Marañón Waterkeeper (MWK) in Peru. Undoubtedly, 2019 was a very successful year for them, but their 2020 is going to be full of highlights. Besides more legal work to finally annul the Chadin II and Veracruz dam concessions and loads of other projects, the MWK is planning a huge "Marañón River Tour". More info on the tour will be out soon!

For the Austrian and German initiative "Wasser ist Leben - Rettet die Saalach" that has been active since 2018, but their struggle for a free flowing Saalach intensified since October 2019. We will support them with their campaigning and legal work throughout 2020 again.

"Save the Heart of Kendal" are campaigning for a Natural Flood Management in the river Kent catchment, instead of tolerating the proposed Kendal Flood Risk Management Scheme that would include the construction of a large dam.

The "Save Glen Etive" campaign was started in response to the approval of seven hydro power projects on the main tributaries of the River Etive in Scotland, UK. For the initiative there is no legal option to stop the HPP, as the planning process was completed satisfactorily under Scottish planning law. They are now taking every possible measure to draw attention to the problem to still stop the 7 HPP.

Next, there is "Udruženje za sport ekologiju i kulturu Lepenica" (the Association for Sport, Ecology and Culture Lepenica) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, founded only in October 2019 with the goal to prevent two small hydro power plants (SHPP) on Lepenica river. A second organisation from Bosnia and Herzegovina that we will support is Vijogor (find them on Facebook). They are fighting the SHPP "Janjina 2" in the municipality of Cajnice.

An older and more known organisation is TOKA in Albania. TOKA has been fighting the 14 (fourteen!) proposed dams in Valbona valley since 2016. We will support them with equipment to install gauges to monitor water level and discharge in the river.

We will give grants to five groups in Serbia:

"Sokobanjsko ekološko društvo" (The Ecological Society of Sokobanja), "Ecological Association Rzav", "Savez mesnih zajednica Stare planine" (The Association of Local Communities of Stara Mountain), the Local community of the village of Topli Do and the documentary film project "The Roar of the Tiger - Topli Do". The latter three are working together very closely.

Finally, we will be contributing to a short film by two young film makers: Kristof is a master student of applied limnology at BOKU Vienna, Austria, and Jonas studies environmental science at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. The film will be about the reintroduction of Atlantic salmon in the Rhine river system in Germany.

We are looking forward to a year full of small steps and big jumps for free flowing rivers!

And if you'd like to learn what the ideas behind our choices are then just continue reading.

Projects 2019

Marañón Waterkeeper

maranon-waterkeeper-logo

Marañón Waterkeeper is a community lead organisation that is working to protect the Marañón River, hydrological source of the Amazon. 20 mega dams planned along the Marañón would turn its 900km of whitewater into a series of stagnant reservoirs, block passage of 23 migratory fish species, and have massive impacts on the Amazon below.
Marañón Waterkeeper is creating conservation areas to block dams in critical areas, creating educational campaigns in local communities, and assisting community activists all for one purpose; to ensure the source of the Amazon continues to flow free, forever.

Balkanka Association

Balkanka

"Balkanka" Association is a non-profit, non-governmental organization, registered in Bulgaria for action in public benefit, on 07 August 2013. The main objectives of “Balkanka” are protection and conservation of river biodiversity, with a focus on conservation and restoration of indigenous balkan trout populations in Bulgarian rivers. Most of our actions are focused on preventing the implementation of new hydropower plant (HPP) projects, monitoring of the already operating ones, improving the legislation in the field of river ecosystem management and forcing its proper applying. We work also on the problems with water pollution, sediment transport regime, illegal gravel abstraction, river channelization, clearing of riparian vegetation etc. Beside this we organize events on education, cleaning the trash along the rivers and fish restocking. Moreover, several scientific studies on HPP impact on
river ecosystems have been conducted by our association. Our association have already established collaborations with all states authorities responsible for water management. Continuously, we support them with our expertise and results of our monitoring in the field.

Donja Bukovica

donja_bukovica_logo

The main goal of NGO Environmental movement „Donja Bukovica“ is to protect and preserve the
river Bukovica and to prevent the upbuilding of mini hydro power plants on this river. The upbuilding
of mini hydro power plants on Bukovica River would lead to the destruction of the river ecosystem.
Bukovica is one of the cleanest rivers in the Balkans, it has water of the A1 category and in that river
subsist endemic and stenoderma species.
We are acting against project „Construction of a small hydro power plants „Bukovica 1“ and
„Bukovica 2“, on the Bukovica River, in the municipality of Savnik“.
We believe that other Montenegrin citizens, led by our example, will activate and give their best to
be more numerous and to be as persistent as possible in the efforts to keep nature out of all negative
influences. We want to stop the construction of dams and hydroelectric power plants on our rivers.

The National Campaign to Protect the Bisri Valley

bisri_logo

Our campaign aims mainly to protect the Bisri River and Valley from a World Bank-funded large dam. The dam will cause extensive damage to the river and its ecosystem, destroying 6 million sqaure meteres of natural and agricultural lands, in addition to 50 historical sites. We also raise awareness of the dam's negative impacts, and we promote sustainable water management solutions to avoid the destruction of the Bisri River.

Mission East to West

Anup Gurung is a passionate kayaker and the founder and president of Nepal Kayak Club. With NKC, he has been organizing training and events to empower Nepalese paddlers and promote the Nepali whitewater scene. Through the Express Serie Championships, NKC has been promoting awareness about rivers threatened by hydropower such as the Bhotekoshi, Marsyangdi and Modi Khola with the "paddle it before it dries out" slogan. Now, with team Mission East to West, he has set out to explore all the major rivers of Nepal to explore not only the landscape but also the communities and cultures thriving and surviving by these rivers. By exploring these stories through film and stills, he hopes to raise awareness about the plight of Nepali rivers. He is joined mainly by three strong Nepali paddlers - Hari Ale, Roshan Lama and Tarjan Gurung who are all members of the Nepal Kayak Club as well as national and international kayakers for portions of their journey. They are supported by Kripa Dongol who has been helping the Nepal Kayak Club with events and outreach. She is a writer and researcher exploring intersections of environment and development in Nepal and will be managing logistics for ME2W and joining them for portions of the expedition to document their stories.

Saalach Allianz

saalach_allianz_logo

The Saalach Allianz is working on and against several projects at Saalach river. Currently they are facing plans for a cross-border devision dam ("Schlauchwehr") in Unken, Austria. The project has been submitted to authorities only in November 2018. At this early stage of the permission process a lot can be done to protect the Saalach river and to prevent the building of the dam. The Free Rivers Fund supports the Saalach Allianz in their struggle against the dam in Unken.

Projects 2018

Marañón Waterkeeper

maranon-waterkeeper-logo

Marañón Waterkeeper is a community lead organisation that is working to protect the Marañón River, hydrological source of the Amazon. 20 mega dams planned along the Marañón would turn its 900km of whitewater into a series of stagnant reservoirs, block passage of 23 migratory fish species, and have massive impacts on the Amazon below.
Marañón Waterkeeper is creating conservation areas to block dams in critical areas, creating educational campaigns in local communities, and assisting community activists all for one purpose; to ensure the source of the Amazon continues to flow free, forever.

Center for Environment

centar-za-zivotnu-sredinu-logo
Center for Environment (CfE) is a non-profit, non-governmental and non-partisan association. Our work is mostly related to rivers in recent years, protecting them from hydropower projects and so far we have been successful in preserving Vrbas, Hrčavka and Sutjeska rivers.
Since we are running campaign against hydropower plants in Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to protect rivers and its biodiversity, in 2018 our focus will be on direct campaigning, supporting and legal assistance to the grassroots organizations and local activists, nature conservation, media
promotion and popularization of our rivers for water sports. Project for the protection of Ugar canyon is related to media promotion of Ugar canyon and
increasing public awareness about the urgent need for its protection.

Balkan Rivers Tour

damhead-sticker-preview

Balkan Rivers Tour started from a crazy idea born in the head of Rok Rozman at the pub one late evening. Intention to expose the insane dam craze and attack of greed in the Balkans to the world, connect grass roots activists from the region and prove that nature conservation is anything but boring and reserved just for experts became real project in just 6 months. With 1.500 participants, 23 paddled rivers in 6 countries and 18 participating nations it was and still is the biggest river conservation project in Europe. But what is even more important – it is now spontaneously becoming a movement that is gaining publicity and reach trough one simple truth; saving rivers is rock’n’roll and paddling is so much better when you give it a purpose.

Save Our Rivers

Save Our Rivers

Our free flowing rivers are some of the last undisturbed wild spaces in the country. They may cut a refuge for wildlife through areas of development or pass largely unnoticed through our scenic national parks, but there is a wave of development coming to these rivers which has unforeseen consequences.

After five years of campaigning we have called to account the thin plans to build in the Conwy, and planning permission and water abstraction have not been granted. But there are a great many other free flowing rivers in the UK, which remain under threat of irreversible development. ‘Save the Conwy’ has now become ‘Save Our Rivers’ and we have become a UK charity. We’re here to help and to encourage the scrutiny of these plans by local communities and all of us who love the outdoor life.

WET

WET logo

WET - Wildwasser Erhalten Tirol is committed to the preservation of the last undeveloped rivers and streams of the Tyrol region of Austria and aims to constantly improve the ecological state of Tyrolean waters.

WET is very critical of the expansion of hydropower in Tyrol and informs the affected population of its effects through information events and public relations work.

The members of the WET are very active in the campaign against the planned expansion of the Sellrain-Silz power plant group and have been achieving positive changes in the project as a part of the EIA procedure. The final goal - to stop the expansion of Sellrain-Silz and prevent water drainage from the Stubaital - is getting closer and closer.

 

 

 

 

Projects 2017 – the founding projects

Balkan Rivers Tour

Balkan Rivers Tour started from a crazy idea born in the head of Rok Rozman at the pub one late evening. Intention to expose the insane dam craze and attack of greed in the Balkans to the world, connect grass roots activists from the region and prove that nature conservation is anything but boring and reserved just for experts became real project in just 6 months. With 1.500 participants, 23 paddled rivers in 6 countries and 18 participating nations it was and still is the biggest river conservation project in Europe. But what is even more important – it is now spontaneously becoming a movement that is gaining publicity and reach trough one simple truth; saving rivers is rock’n’roll and paddling is so much better when you give it a purpose.

damhead-sticker-preview

Save the Conwy

Save the Conwy is a kayaker led NGO based in the Snowdonia National Park. It has been campaigning against the building of a run of river HEP scheme on the Fairy Glen section of the Afon Conwy. A scheme that would threaten a SSSI site famous for it's endangered celtic rainforest plant species, block the migration route for both Salmon and Sea Trout and drain the flow from the best section of white water in the UK.

By working side by side with traditional environmental NGOs and other river users Save the Conwy has been able to hold off this damaging proposal since 2013 and hopes to protect this beautiful rivers future for everyone to enjoy.

savetheconwyv1

 

WET

WET - Wildwasser erhalten Tirol is committed to the preservation of the last undeveloped rivers and streams of the Tyrol region of Austria and aims to constantly improve the ecological state of Tyrolean waters.

WET is very critical of the expansion of hydropower in Tyrol and informs the affected population of its effects through information events and public relations work.

The members of the WET are very active in the campaign against the planned expansion of the Sellrain-Silz power plant group and have been achieving positive changes in the project as a part of the EIA procedure. The final goal - to stop the expansion of Sellrain-Silz and prevent water drainage from the Stubaital - is getting closer and closer.
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