26 oct. Online event : WWF’s report launch: “The Final Sprint for Europe’s Rivers.”

WWF, ERN and the others members of the Living Rivers Europe coalition launched the second edition of their report, “The Final Sprint for Europe’s Rivers”, during the online launch event which took place on Tuesday, 26 October

Will Europe’s river basins return to health by 2027? Time is running out to implement the Water Framework Directive.

Europe’s rivers are under threat, with 60% of them in poor ecological health, unsustainable water use in agriculture, and alarming biodiversity decline. Is Europe really on track to return its fresh waters to health by 2027 as the Water Framework Directive requires?

Member States have only a few months left to finalise their river basin management plans for the next six years. Find in our report below the analysis of 21 drafts of River Basin Management Plans in 11 EU Member States.

 

 

 

 

France : Public policies to safeguard the Loire Salmon : a total incoherence !

France: PUBLIC POLICIES TO SAFEGUARD THE LOIRE SALMON: A TOTAL INCOHERENCE!

On the Allier, while EDF is completing work on the “new Poutès”, which will improve the situation of the salmon in the Allier, its own subsidiary, SHEMA, is building a hydroelectric power station that will perpetuate the negative impacts of the Vichy dam, which will reduce to nothing the efforts made upstream. Absurd and revolting!

>>read the complet Press release (in french only) edited by ERN-SOS Loire vivante and other NGO

 

This autumn, on the Poutès dam (river Allier)…

On September 29th, on the almost finished construction site of the new dam of Poutès (Allier),
the installed gates were lifted for the 1st time, just in time for the arrival of the salmons!

Ideal conditions for a free circulation of migratory fish and sediments…

The beginning of the hydroelectric production is planned for Spring 2022.

Read the press release (french)

2021 sept. /New gates have been installed and lifted on Poutes dam!  photo R. Epple ERN

>> More infos on “le Nouveau Poutès”

Loire salmon: The coup de grace in Vichy?

While considerable efforts have been made by the State, local authorities, associations and citizens to safeguard the species, the Prefect of the Allier has just authorized the construction of a hydroelectric power station on the Vichy dam, definitively condemning the possibilities of the re-conquest of the ALLIER by the salmon and directly threatening its survival.
This irresponsible and fatal project must be stopped.
A group of 10 national and local associations, including SOS Loire Vivante, has signed an appeal to the Prefect of the Allier. They are considering legal action, both national and European, to stop this deleterious project and replace it with an environmentally responsible solution.

> Read the press release of the associations (french only)
>> See the appeal (french only)

ERNs at the IUCN World Congress in Marseille

ERN participate/organise in the following events :

  • 9 september 11h30 on a round Table ‘ Small Hydro Power in the mountains’ (session 53312, IUCN France Stand)
  • 9 september from 17h45 – 20h in the Cité des Associations de Marseille, Salle Phocea, 93 la Canebière, 13001 Marseille  presenting two videos in cooperation with  FNE PACA and Patagonia. download the flyer (fr)   ,
    Passe sanitaire or test obligatory
    Reservation obligatory (limited number of places) >>link

Last call for Big Jump !

Read more

Goldman Environmental Prize for the “Brave Women of Kruščica”

Photo : Maida Bilal received the award on behalf of the all the brave women of Kruščica. © Goldman Prize

++ River defenders from Bosnia and Herzegovina win the Goldman Environmental Prize ++ For the second time in the past three years an activist has received this prestigious award for campaigning against hydropower in the Balkans. ++ See the Riverwatch Press Release below

San Francisco, Kruščica, Vienna, Radolfzell, June 16th, 2021. On Wednesday evening (16.00 local time), Maida Bilal received the renowned 2021 Goldman Environmental Prize on behalf of the “brave women of Kruščica”. The prize is endowed with 200,000 USD. The Jury justified their decision on the grounds that hydropower is not green, and is one of the greatest threats to wild rivers and the people living along their banks. Maida Bilal and the other women fought for one of the last free-flowing rivers in Europe – and won. The group of women from the village of Kruščica in Bosnia and Herzegovina had occupied a bridge over their river for over 500 days and nights – despite violent eviction attempts by the police and even during the long, cold winter – and thereby prevented the construction of two hydropower plants.

The international foundation EuroNatur had already recognised their extraordinary courage and persistence with the 2019 EuroNatur Prize. Gabriel Schwaderer, Executive Director of EuroNatur, has welcomed the decision of the jury: “The commitment of these courageous women to their natural livelihoods is exemplary. I am delighted that the EuroNatur laureates will attract international attention with the awarding of the Goldman Prize, the so-called ‘Green Nobel Prize’”

This is the second time in the last three years that this award has gone to activists fighting against the construction of hydropower in the Balkans. In 2019, Ana Colovic Lesoska from North Macedonia was honoured for campaigning against dam projects in her country. “This is, as far as I know, a novelty and an extraordinary motivation for all those who stand up for the Blue Heart of Europe. It is also a political signal to the governments of the region as well as to the EU, financial institutions and banks to keep their hands off Balkan rivers.” said Ulrich Eichelmann, CEO of Riverwatch.

Background information

  • The Goldman Environmental Prize is a conservation prize that has been awarded annually since 1990 to six “environmental heroes” in the grassroots movements. A prize is awarded to people from each of the regions of Africa, Asia, Europe, islands and island states, North America and South and Central America.
  • The recording of the awards ceremony can be watched on demand HERE
  • This is a joint press release by EuroNatur and Riverwatch
  • The “Save the Blue Heart of Europe” campaign aims to protect rivers of high natural value in the Balkans, which are threatened by over 3,500 hydropower projects. The campaign is coordinated by the international NGOs Riverwatch and EuroNatur and is implemented jointly with partner organizations in the Balkan countries. The campaign is coordinated by the NGOs Riverwatch and EuroNatur and carried out in conjunction with partner organisations from the Balkan countries. The partner organisation in Bosnia-Herzegovina is made up of the Center for Environment (CZZS) and ACT.
  • The campaign, “Save the Blue Heart of Europe”, is supported amongst others by the Manfred-Hermsen-Stiftung.

Further information

Christian Stielow – EuroNatur, christian.stielow@euronatur.org, Tel.: +49 (0)7732 – 92 72 15
Cornelia Wieser – Riverwatch, cornelia.wieser@riverwatch.eu, Tel.: +43 (0)6504544784

 

Most European rivers will not achieve good ecological status by 2027 (Living rivers Europe Coalition)

Living River Europe coalition including WWF and EEB and ERN present a preliminary assessment of river basin management plans
Under the title “THE FINAL SPRINT FOR EUROPE’S RIVERS” and “NGO ANALYSIS OF 2022- 2027 DRAFT RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT PLANS”, WWF, EEB and other partners of the Living Rivers Coalition have presented a first analysis of the draft river basin management plans shortly before the end of the official public participation under the Water Framework Directive.
According to this analysis, 11 of the 13 river basins considered will not meet the WFD objectives by 2027. In almost half of the cases, the indicators examined on pollution, continuity, high and low water management, agriculture, hydropower, coal mining and renaturation measures were found to be largely insufficient. In addition to insufficient funding, the report cites the persistent lack of policy integration in areas such as agriculture, energy and infrastructure, as well as the frequent use of exemptions as the main reasons.
The report is available on the EEB website:
https://eeb.org/library/the-final-sprint-for-europes-river-report/
The WWF / Living Rivers Coalition press release can be found here:
https://www.wwf.eu/?uNewsID=3697866

 

From July 5 to 11, Dam Removal Europe joins the Big Jump

Indeed, from July 5 to 11, Dam Removal Europe joins the Big Jump with its crowdfunding action in favor of dam removal projects.

This year, the theme of the Big Jump is “Free Rivers”. This means that the Big Jump is dedicated to the removal of dams and other obstacles on rivers across Europe, in order to bring them back to life.

To raise awareness of the dramatic situation represented by the existence of more than a million obstacles and, at the same time, to launch very concrete actions on the ground, we are launching a crowdfunding week from 5 to 11 July 2021, at the same time as the Big Jump.

This operation allows any group or organization to register a dam to demolish. They can then relay this project to their networks and get donations to carry out their river action.

Register your dam removal project before June 20th by following all the information given in the document available here.

It will then be able to benefit from the crowdfunding week planned from July 5 to 11!