Save the date: Tuesday 4 June from 4pm to 6pm Webinar Sélune – how do the river and the valley get back into flow?

In the series of Tuesday webinars organised by ERN- SOS Loire Vivante, book your Tuesday 4 June trip to the Sélune.

ERN France in partnership with the OFB is organising a webinar on the Sélune on Tuesday 4 June from 4pm to 6pm.

We will be welcoming 3 researchers. They will present the latest results of their work. Focusing on the post-effacement phase, we will try to understand how the river and the valley are resuming their course. The presentations will be followed by an hour of discussion.

Programme:

Alain Crave: Restoration of sedimentary, hydric and chemical continuity and changes in water quality
François Martignac: Recolonisation of the Sélune valley by migratory fish
Marie-Anne Germaine: What project for the region after the dismantling of the Sélune dams? A social approach to ecological restoration

 

If you are interested, register to take part in the webinar (in french) : https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ytrz6dxMQUCAhysM6DCCVw

All replays of our webinars (french only) :  Webinaires – European Rivers Network (ern.org)

25 May: World Migratory Fish Day

World Migratory Fish Day* is just one month away! 25th May 2024.

More than 200 organisations have already registered their events, including more than 70 in Europe.

Register your event and celebrate the importance of free-flowing rivers and migratory fish!

See the map of events at https://www.worldfishmigrationday.com/events/

Any type of event is welcome (visit, conference, personal challenge, animation, inauguration, video projection) and you can choose the date that suits you best around 25 May! To register an event, go to the World Fish Migration Day website.

From 22 to 26 May in France is also the Fêtes de la Nature. Don’t forget to label your events in this programme too.

*World Migratory Fish Day is an awareness-raising campaign celebrated every two years to highlight the links between fish, rivers and people.

The “Vote Nature” alliance unveils its scoreboard for the European Parliament

A new in-depth study carried out by five major climate and environmental organisations, brought together under the “Vote Nature” alliance and comprising BEE, CAN Europe, BirdLife Europe, Transport & Environment and the WWF European Policy Office, reveals that only a minority of MEPs during the 2019 – 2024 mandate acted to protect Europe’s climate, nature and air quality. The majority of MEPs acted instead as either “procrastinators” or “prehistoric thinkers”, delaying real action with patchy and inconsistent voting records, or worse, completely failing to rise to the challenge of the crises Europe is facing.

The Scoreboard provides a comprehensive assessment of MEPs’ voting behaviour between 2019 and 2024 across 30 policy files on climate, nature, pollution, and circular economy.

It categorises political parties into three types:

🦸‍♀️ Protectors: A small yet vital group who have staunchly supported the European Green Deal.
🐌 Procrastinators: Those with inconsistent voting records, often delaying necessary actions.
🦖 Prehistoric Thinkers: Those who opposed progressive measures, obstructing crucial progress.

Access the scoreboard : EU Elections: EU Parliament Scoreboard 2019-2024 (caneurope.org)

This June, citizens will be able to hold their representatives accountable for their recent parliamentary performance and demand higher ambition from the European Parliament in the years to come.

*The scores are based on the voting recommendations of the five European environmental organisations.

Logo Openrivers

Open Rivers Programme selects a new project submitted by ERN

Following the successful removal of 4 weirs on the Tardoire in 2023, ERN will have the pleasure of supporting, as part of the Open Rivers programme, the removal of the Pont de Rhodes weir being carried out by the Syndicat Mixte de la Dordogne Moyenne et de la Cère Aval, on the Ressegue, a sub-tributary of the Cère (BV Dordogne). The water pearl mussel, which is on the IUCN red list, is present in this basin. The restoration work will reconnect 12.3 km, i.e. 96% of the length of the Ressegue, and 23 km of watercourses throughout the catchment area.

The work will be 100% funded by the Open Rivers programme, for which ERN and the SMDMCA applied in 2023. The study phase was also financed by the Open Rivers programme with the ERN/SMDMCA partnership.

The next call for applications is set for 29th October 2024 (grant categories A: Programme-supported dam removals and B: Enabling others to remove dams).

More infos : https://www.ern.org/fr/openrivers/

 

 

 

Dam removal report is out : Record year for dam removals in Europe as report warns of safety risks of ageing barriers

487 dams and weirs to be removed in 15 European countries by 2023

Dam Removal Europe published its report on progress in removing river barriers in Europe in 2023 on 15 April. 487 barriers were removed in 15 European countries in 2023, an increase of 50% on last year’s figure. These initiatives have enabled more than 4,300 kilometres of river to be reconnected. France is back at the top of the league table, with more than 150 listed structures to be removed by 2023.

Even though the number of obstacles has reached a record high again this year, this is also due to improved reporting to the DRE. In addition to the growing number of structures and countries freeing up their waterways, the report also highlights the safety risks posed by ageing structures, reporting 129 deaths in recent years.

France has been removing obstacles from its rivers for many years, and we welcome the fact that the idea of freeing up rivers is gaining ground in other European countries. France’s river restoration policy is an example elsewhere in Europe and remains inspiring. But in other countries too, a policy to restore free rivers is taking shape. In Estonia, for example, the Supreme Court handed down a landmark ruling on 15 January 2024, setting a precedent for the removal of dams in the country. The judge designated the Ministry of the Environment as the competent authority to reconcile heritage and environmental interests.

 

A few years earlier, the NGO Jägala Kalateed had embarked on a project to restore the river Jägala as a Natura 2000 area, with a strong focus on salmon. But the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of the Environment had been unable to agree on how to deal with the issue of ageing dams. On the one hand, dams are part of our cultural heritage and, on the other, they pose a threat to rivers. After more than two years of petitions and legal proceedings, the Supreme Court has announced its final decision: where cultural and environmental interests conflict, supreme authority lies with environmental rules (including the derogation clause in the Habitats Directive). Thanks to this decision, on 8 April 2024, the Estonian Environmental Office decided to officially cancel the permit to use water from the Linnamäe hydroelectric power station, Estonia’s largest hydroelectric dam, for the benefit of salmonids. This announcement will open the door to the largest dam removal in Estonia.

* Map of European countries reporting dam removals in 2023. The colour gradient corresponds to the number of removals per country.

Read DRE press release

DRE report : https://ern-sosloirevivante.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Web-version_DRE-Report-2023.pdf

Find out more about the case of Estonia : https://damremoval.eu/supreme-court-estonia/

Coming soon: Advocacy videos for ecological continuity

With the support of the OFB as part of the Mobbiodiv call for projects, ERN will shortly be publishing a documentary on the restoration of ecological continuity in France from 1997 to the present day. Entitled “Pour une fois qu’il faut laisser couler”, the 3-part film traces the history of the major events and projects that have marked the restoration of the free movement of rivers in France. It is told from the point of view of our association. English version will aslo be available

Short modules will soon be available on the web.

part 1/3: Reopening river routes to large migratory species
part 2/3: Reconnecting small and medium-sized rivers
part 3/3: Rethinking and reconfiguring major blocking structures

At the end of 2023, the Water and Biodiversity Ministry published a video on ecological continuity, answering questions on the subject and deconstructing preconceived ideas.

Watch the video (in french) Le Vrai / Faux de la continuité écologique des cours d’eau

Screening & discussion of the film “La Rivière” at Ciné Dyke

ERN-SOS Loire Vivante is organising, with Ciné-Dyke in Le Puy en Velay, a screening of the film “La Rivière” on Friday 29 March 2024 at 6pm, tickets at cinema rate.

In this documentary of great aesthetic and human interest, winner of the Prix Jean Vigo 2023, Dominique Marchais films the rivers of the Pyrenees, from the Gaves to the Adour. Along the way, he meets the men and women who live along the river: environmentalists, fishermen, naturalists, scientists, river maintenance workers, etc. Through the experiences of these men and women concerned with “the river” (a term that has become generic for the Gaves), the film shows their strong bond with the place where they live, a watershed. It also shows the evolution of this ecological environment, which is under serious threat from human activity. It warns of the ecological crisis, but is not without hope: men and women are trying in their own way to preserve, warn and fight so that the river continues to be an incredible source of life.

The director follows “a gentle path” to describe the transformation of landscapes and nature, the upheaval of the river’s water cycle and biodiversity, and to highlight those who are working to protect it.

This film is more than a documentary, it’s a celebration of beauty and life. But at the same time, it is an alarming reminder of the many and varied ways in which nature is being attacked. And in a universal way, through Béarn and the Basque country, we can imagine other rivers, including the Loire and its salmon…

Following the screening, the public will be able to react to the curious and loving way in which the director looks at the river, during a discussion in which the presidents of the Loire Amont SAGE (Schéma d’Aménagement et de Gestion des Eaux) and the Fédération Départementale de Pêche de la Haute Loire will take part, alongside ERN-SOS Loire Vivante.

The removal of the Urrutienea dam in France, finalist in the European prize for the removal of dams 2023, votes are open

The removal of the Urrutienea dam on the River Nivelle in France has been selected to compete for the European prize for the removal of dams.

3 projects have been shortlisted: “Removal of the Urrutienea dam on the River Nivelle in France”, “Removal of the Garlogie dam in Scotland” and “Removal of the Vaqueiros weir in Portugal”. You can now vote for your favourite. Voting is open until 22 March at 11:59. Vote now! Dam Removal Award Nominees 2023 – Dam Removal Europe 

Focus on the project on the Nivelle, the other projects can be found on the DRE website.

At the heart of a cross-border landscape between Spain and France, the Nivelle is a river rich in biodiversity and is a major centre of interest for this tourist region in summer. The 5-metre-high dam had been out of action for 10 years! An impassable barrier for migratory fish, in particular salmon, eels and other emblematic species (freshwater pearl mussels, Pyrenean Desman, European otters, white-clawed crayfish and others). The fishing federation, which initiated the project, bought the site in order to dismantle it completely. On the Spanish side, their partners had already worked on removing the obstacles, and they knew that this dam was the last completely impassable dam on the Nivelle.

Their main obstacle was to convince the local authorities that economic development (hydroelectricity) could not be achieved at the expense of local biodiversity. All in all, it took 20 years to break the deadlock!

Just two months after completion of the work, the results are extraordinary. The first Atlantic salmon spawning grounds located 6 km upstream of the dam were observed in Spain – for the first time in several centuries!

The work carried out in parallel since 2020 to conserve and restore the freshwater pearl mussel on the Nivelle has also been decisive. This species, the only one genetically unique in the Pyrenees, lives in symbiosis with salmon. These actions include reproduction to boost the natural population, which was threatened with extinction within the next 10 years. Removing the dam was therefore essential to restoring the habitat and reclaiming the whole of the upstream catchment.

Numerous partners were involved in the project: scientific research bodies (INRAE), associations (AAPPMA Nivelle, CEN Nouvelle Aquitaine, MIGRADOUR), the Government of Navarre, the vocational college (which houses the facilities for the ex-situ pearl mussel rearing project), and foundations (Fondation française des pêcheurs, Fondation Arcadia – Open Rivers Programme).

 

The Dam Removal Award is organised by Dam Removal Europe, the World Fish Migration Foundation, the European Investment Bank, and The Nature Conservancy, supported by the Dutch Postcode Lottery, Forest Peace Foundation and ABN AMRO Bank. The most inspiring project will be awarded a special trophy and 15.000 Euros towards the team’s next removal project, and the winner will be revealed during the upcoming Free Flow Conference in Groningen, The Netherlands. 

 

 

 

logo Living Rivers Europe

Open letter: Nature-based water resilience cannot wait

The 🇪🇺 has dropped an essential plan to make Europe more water resilient 🤯

Floods & droughts are worsening, we must be prepared!

Today, 28 organisations, including NGOs, city networks, sustainable farmers, trade unions and professional associations, are calling on the @EUCommissionto put a nature-based EU Water Resilience Initiative back on the agenda before the 2024 🇪🇺 elections.

Presented as an end-of-term priority by the President of the European Commission, this communication was announced for 12 March, before finally being postponed to an unknown date. However in the face of more intense and frequent extreme weather events related to climate change, the EU should accelerate its action to address recurrent water scarcity and protect society against the effects of droughts, floods, wildfires and sea level rise. Achieving water resilience through nature based solutions should be a political priority under the next European Commission, with healthy freshwater and marine ecosystems – rivers, lakes, wetlands, deltas and coastal areas – at its core.

Read our open letter to @vonderleyen

Protest on the Albanian Shushica River: Vjosa National Park in danger

++ An entire valley stands up against the diversion of its water: On Saturday, 24 February, the mayors from the Shushica Valley gathered to protest the nature-destroying plans for the Shushica ++ Albanian government wants to divert the water from the Vjosa tributary ++ Vjosa National Park in danger after just one year ++

Press release from EuroNatur, Eco Albania and Riverwatch

Radolfzell, Vienna, Tirana, Kuç. 12 mayors and numerous other residents of the Shushica Valley and other regions of the Vjosa National Park, activists, lawyers and scientists gathered this morning in the village of Kuç on the banks of the Shushica River. They are protesting the plans of the government in Tirana to take the water from the Shushica and channel it to the Mediterranean coast 17 kilometres away in Himara to promote mass tourism there.

Officially declared in March 2023, the Vjosa Wild River National Park encompasses the Vjosa and its key tributaries, including the Shushica. However, less than a year later, the Shushica faces potential removal from protected status, leading to the “amputation” of the Vjosa National Park. The proposed withdrawal of 140 litres of water per second from the Shushica would completely dry up the upper river reaches during summer. This poses a significant threat to biodiversity and has severe repercussions for the local population in around 30 affected villages. The intervention may lead to the exclusion of the Shushica from the national park, as such measures are prohibited in this protection category, depriving the local community of the benefits of ecotourism.

Elidon Kamaj – Mayor of Brataj says : “We had high hopes for the national park as we anticipated it would boost economic development. Given our region’s challenges with emigration, establishing the national park held the promise of transformative change for us. However, if our water is now taken away and Shushica loses its national park status, our economic future will be at stake.”

The German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) and the Western Balkan Investment Framework (WBIF) are financing the project, and the Austrian company STRABAG is carrying out the construction work. The ministries’ approvals and the financing were based on a completely flawed environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA). The consequences of the project for the Shushica were not analysed, and the people living along the Shushica were not informed. National and international scientists who reviewed these analyses concluded “…the results are misleading and incorrect.” (see attachement).

“We won’t stand by as our water is stolen from us. This project was never communicated to us; its existence only came to light when the construction equipment showed up. We won’t tolerate our water being taken away, and we are prepared to take action to halt the construction.” More than 50 residents filed a lawsuit against this project together with the Albanian nature conservation organisation EcoAlbania. The first court hearing is still pending, declares Astrit Balilaj – Mayor of Kuçi.

“The risk lies in the potential for the water diversion on the Shushica to set a precedent. The actions unfolding today on the Shushica might repeat tomorrow in other sections of the national park. The credibility of the entire Wild River National Park is at stake,” says Olsi Nika, Executive Director of EcoAlbania.

“The Wild River National Park is based on a largely natural, undisturbed water balance in its network of veins. This is what makes this area so unique, which is why people from all over Europe come here. This diversion project, therefore, jeopardises the entire national park. Germany and the WBIF must withdraw from the project if Albania does not stop the construction work immediately and order a real EIA,” says Ulrich Eichelmann, Executive Director of Riverwatch.

“The Albanian government has probably assumed that we will turn a blind eye to one or two nature-destroying projects in return for the designation of the Vjosa National Park, but we will not compromise. We will not give up until the Vjosa and its tributaries are truly safe!” says Annette Spangenberg, Head of Nature Conservation at EuroNatur.

The joint demands of the local residents, mayors, scientists and activists can be summarised as follows:

  1. Halt construction immediately.
  2. Conduct a new environmental impact assessment.
  3. Identify and analyse alternative water resources for the coastal area around Himara as part of the EIA, with the help of national and international experts.

Background information:

– Joint press release by EuroNatur, Eco Albania and Riverwatch,

– In March 2023, the Vjosa National Park was established in Albania, Europe’s first wild river conservation area, which encompasses a total of 404 kilometres of the Vjosa river network with its tributaries Shushica, Drino and Bënça. After less than a year, the national park is now in danger; construction work is already well advanced and is due to be completed in August this year.

– The nature-destroying project has so far also been financed with German taxpayers’ money, namely with funds from the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF).

– EIA & position paper available on demand

– The “Save the Blue Heart of Europe” campaign aims to protect rivers with particularly high natural value on the Balkan Peninsula, which are threatened by more than 3,400 hydropower projects and other nature-destroying plans. The campaign is coordinated by the international nature conservation organisations Riverwatch and EuroNatur and implemented together with partner organisations in the Balkan countries. The local partner in Albania is EcoAlbania. Further information can be found at https://balkanrivers.net

– The campaign is supported by the Manfred-Hermsen-Stiftung, among others.