Vjosa in Albania, the 1st European Wild River National Park

Dear Colleagues and friends,

With great pleasure we would like to inform you that on March 15, the Vjosa in Albania was declared the 1st European Wild River National Park. The full length of the Vjosa in Albania, from the Greek border to the Adriatic Sea including its main tributaries are protected as a IUCN cat II national park, in total more than 400 kilometers of rivers and streams. The originally planned 45 hydropower plants in the river system will not be built.

This is a unique achievement and we believe, this concept of a wild rivers national park could become a blueprint for large scale river protection in the region as well as in the whole Europe.

And you have your share in this. We are very grateful for Your help. In November 2019 you signed the attached petition addressed to the Prime Minister of Albania and the Minister for Environment. Almost 800 scientists from all over the world supported that initiative and created quite some visibility and attention in Albania.

Please see article in The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/15/albania-vjosa-wild-r...

Best Regards from Vienna and Tirana,
Prof. Fritz Schiemer and Prof. Aleko Miho