LAST month, I spent a few days in Albania to attend a conservation milestone, the declaration of Europe’s first . The river Vjosa, which rises in Greece and flows through Albania into the Adriatic, is Europe’s last great free-flowing river, meaning it is uninhibited by dams or artificial banks from source to sea.
I went because I have been writing a series of articles on the shocking state of the UK’s rivers. The Vjosa visit – courtesy of the outdoor clothing brand , which has sunk the best part of a million dollars into the campaign to get it protected and has pledged $4.6 million more – was a chance to see an undeveloped river.
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I wasn’t disappointed, at least at first. It is an extraordinary place: wide, wild and crystalline. In its upper reaches, the river roars through stunning gorges and canyons. Lower down, it meanders and braids freely across a bed that is up to 3 kilometres wide in places, before languidly flowing into the Adriatic at a huge delta. It is also a biodiversity hotspot. Protection means that it will stay that way.
The park almost didn’t happen. Albania runs on hydropower, and work began in 2007 on a hydroelectric dam on the Vjosa that would have been 43 metres at its highest point, amassing a giant reservoir behind it and trashing the river completely. The project was abandoned in 2021 after a long campaign called , but the scars of early construction are still there.
The declaration of a river national park is a big achievement and a potential starting point for greater things in the region. Yet more remains to be done. Most of the Greek part of the river is , but a substantial section is in unprotected land. The Greek government was due to announce a decision on whether to extend the national park to plug the gap, but postponed it after the recent Tempi train crash. The current government is minded to say yes, according to Alexandra Pappa at , a non-profit organisation based in Athens, but that may not be true after the general election in May.
In addition, there are plans for a network of in Greece. Four are already in operation on tributaries of the Vjosa (Aoos) in Greece, and 45 more are on the cards. If they all go ahead, it will alter the free-flowing character of the Vjosa, says Pappa.
But there is a bigger threat, and at the park’s inauguration, Albanian prime minister Edi Rama rather soured the celebrations with it. He paid tributes all round and called the event a historic moment, but then launched into a tirade that I later learned was aimed at a conservation group, . He spoke in Albanian, but I got the gist: the airport will be built and you can’t stop it.
Rama was talking about , which is under construction on the Vjosa delta. When it opens next year, it will have capacity for 30 flights a day, eventually bringing in 3 million passengers a year, according to PPNEA. It is designed to kick-start a mass tourism industry on the coast.
I got a car to visit, and the situation was worse than I had feared. The delta is home to the , a vital habitat for flamingos, pelicans and spoonbills, and a stopover on the Adriatic flyway, a major migratory route. Its sand dunes are a breeding site for loggerhead turtles. And, to make matters worse, the runway bisects the route to the , another major wetland 35 kilometres to the north, which the pelicans and flamingos use to breed.
The airport is destructive enough; the infrastructure that will land in its wake will be even worse. The noise and obstruction will spook the birds and disrupt migration. Artificial lighting will threaten the turtles, which need . It isn’t just nature at risk, either: plonking an airport in a place where huge pelicans fly around risks catastrophic bird strikes.
“In our view, it is inconceivable how you can have a national park all along the flow of the river, but omit the delta, which is – as every ecologist in the world will tell you – the most important part,” says Aleksandër Trajçe, executive director of PPNEA.
His organisation has filed a lawsuit to stop the construction, but won’t win. I understand that the campaigners had to sacrifice the delta to secure the river. I also understand the desire for development, jobs and tourist dollars in what is a low-income country. But as Rama himself said, an area designated a national park brings in 20 per cent more tourists than a similar, undesignated area. So, why risk ruining the delta?
I don’t want to muddy the waters too much. The Vjosa is a major conservation win. But the delta looks like it is going to become a tragic end for an otherwise beautiful journey.
Graham’s week
What I’m reading
An advance copy of Blue Machine by Helen Czerski, about the physics of the oceans.
What I’m watching
I finally got round to watching the BBC’s documentary about Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Chilling.
What I’m working on
Rivers, rivers, rivers…
