The Wild Rivers Europe project: From conquering the Alps and the Balkans

The Wild Rivers program has two cornerstones: ‘the Fonds pour la protection des Rivières sauvages’ and ERN, a certified association under a 1901 French Law, approved for the protection of wilderness areas and since 1989 a partner of the WWF. ERN works with public agencies and NGOs, the Fonds pour la protection des Rivières sauvages, was established to develop partnerships with businesses and raise private funds.
ERN and its french Partner has successfully implemented the label “Wild River Site” in France. The label was developped in cooperation with the french Ministery for the Environnement and the scientific community. So far (2019) 28 river sections have been labelised and protected all over France.
In 2019 ERN adapted the French label to make it suitable for other European countries. In cooperation with the WWF in Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Switzerland, ERN has looked at applying the label to alpine rivers. As a next step ERN is going to adapt the label to balkan rivers. Hopefully we can publish a call for Apply in 2022/2023.
Map showing the pilot projects for the label Wild Rivers Europe (for the french rivers, go on Rivières Sauvages)

International partners :
project lead by ERN
- Ammer, in cooperation with the WWF Germany
- Lech, in cooperation with the WWF Austria
- Chamuera, in cooperation with the WWF Switzerland
- Beverine, expected to be the first river to be labelled, in cooperation with the WWF Switzerland and the Commune of Bevers.
- Soča, in cooperation with the WWF Adria
- Viosha, (Albania) in cooperation with EURONATURpproject lead by the Fond Rivières sauvages / ARRS
- Artikutza : with the University of Bilbao (Dr. Arturo Elosegi) and San Sebastian Municipality (Departement of Biodiversity and Environnement)
- Wartoise : with local autority, the french part is already labelled.
- Owenduff : with NGOs (fishermen).
The Wild Rivers Chart and an Evaluation Grid
The Wild Rivers Label
