The “blue heart” of Europe is shrinking rapidly. Albania has lost 1,144 kilometers of natural rivers from 2018 to 2025.
This finding comes as a result of a study conducted by the international organizations Riverwatch and Euronatur that shows that in less than a decade the Balkans have lost 28% of its natural rivers.
This is a consequence of the development of hydropower, uncontrolled interventions in rivers for water extraction and changing river beds.
“River segments in near-natural condition declined significantly from 68% in 2012 to just 40% in 2025. River length shrank from 3,812 linear km to 2,668 linear km in just seven years (2018–2025),” the report said.
The report highlights that Albania has lost many pristine rivers as a result of hydropower development over the last 10-15 years.
"While some of the rivers such as the Vjosa and the Osumi Canyon continue to remain untouched," the report emphasizes.
Ulrich Eichelmann, director of Riverwatch, said that Albania successfully protected the Vjosa and several of its tributaries, but many other rivers were degraded over the last decade.
"These findings should serve as a wake-up call for the Albanian government to protect rivers throughout the country, not just in a single basin, especially given the country's aspirations to join the European Union," said Ulrich Eichelmann.
The study also highlights the declaration of the Vjosa Wild River National Park in March 2023, preventing around 40 planned hydropower plants.
"However, the data clearly shows that while we celebrated this victory, degradation accelerated in rivers throughout the rest of the country. Albania cannot afford to lose its remaining wild rivers, they are irreplaceable natural assets and essential for the sustainable development of the country," said Dr. Ulrich Schwarz, author of the study.
Besjana Guri, director of the LUMI center and winner of the "Goldman" environmental award for the Vjosa campaign, told Citizens.al that this study highlights how worrying the situation of rivers in Albania is.
"It is an unfavorable situation for Albanian nature, for local communities or even businesses based on the development of nature tourism. We cannot sacrifice all the rest of the rivers even though we have managed to protect most of the Vjosa basin," said Besjana Guri, while emphasizing that the Vjosa should serve as a basis and model for our institutions to follow with other untouched rivers.
According to Guri, among the main causes of river degradation are hydroelectric power plant projects.
"In the last 7-8 years, our rivers have suffered a successive attack from these projects, making the role of activists and communities very difficult," she stated.
In recent years, Guri said that civil society has urged the government to suspend or stop hydropower plans and to undertake a comprehensive national strategy to assess their impact.
"Given the alarming situation, the new planned hydropower plants, which are mainly small 2 MW HPPs, should be stopped as soon as possible, as the damage they cause to the environment is not small at all," she added.
According to the report, the region has lost about 2,450 kilometers of pristine rivers since 2012, and pressure for intervention continues. The use of water resources for electricity generation has been one of the few unchanged policies over the last decade in Albania.
Citizens.al has previously reported how over the last 15 years Albania has had over 211 active hydropower plants, while 24 others are in the construction process.
The momentum for the construction of hydroelectric power plants has remained unchanged since 2010, despite promises to ban new permits, while the role of municipalities remains mainly administrative, without direct influence on decision-making./Citizens.al
