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The Vjosa flows from its source in Greece to the Adriatic Sea
Photo: Thomas Roche / Getty Images
The Vjosa is particularly wild.
The crystal clear river meanders through the south of Albania between bright sand and gravel banks.
The water flows apart and back together in branched arms, forming countless small islets.
Lined by rolling hills, the river bed is wider than ten soccer fields in some places.
"In the Vjosa there are fish that can only be found here," says the biologist Friedrich Schiemer.
The professor emeritus from Vienna still works a lot in the region despite his retirement.
For some time now, a research center on the river has even been named after him.
For a long time the sparsely populated area on the Vjosa and its tributaries was ecologically a kind of terra incognita.
And some parts are still unknown territory.
But in the past few years, Schiemer and many colleagues have endeavored to take an inventory of nature in extensive field visits.
In 2017, they detected 40 animal species in Albania for the first time.
A species of fish and a stonefly that they found were completely unknown until then.
While people elsewhere straightened rivers with concrete and dams, the Vjosa is allowed to spread almost undisturbed.
It is one of the last wild rivers in Europe.
"We find a variety here that is nowhere else to be found," says Schiemer, not just referring to aquatic animals.
The biologists have discovered more than a hundred species of ground beetle alone on the gravel areas on the bank.
A rarity in times of insect decline.
The Vjosa is about 270 kilometers long, but unique from its source in Greece to its mouth in the Adriatic.
Schiemer speaks of an absolute reference system and thus also includes the tributaries.
The course of the river is constantly changing, and after each flood the river looks for a different route through the valley.
Elsewhere, for centuries, humans have tamed rivers and streams for a variety of reasons.
Be it for land reclamation and agriculture, flood protection or energy generation.
All of this had unforeseen consequences for the ecological balance, which got out of step: flow speeds increased in straightened rivers, floodplains contained less water.
This changed the ecological habitats of flora and fauna, and some species disappeared.
That is why experts use complex renaturation processes to restore natural river systems as far as possible.
"We can see what that looks like in the ideal case on the Vjosa," says Schiemer.
If he and the nature conservation organization Riverwatch have their way, the Vjosa should be placed under protection.
It could be the first European wild river national park.
Scientists and environmentalists fought for a project like this for years, but the fight seemed hopeless again and again.
But Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama recently announced on Twitter that he was in favor of the national park.
It is a U-turn that was surprising.
Near the village of Kalivaç, only about 50 kilometers as the crow flies from the estuary, workers have drawn mighty steps into the mountain ridges on the bank.
At this narrow part of the valley, a dam and hydroelectric power station were to be built.
A 50 meter high and 350 meter long concrete wall would have stopped the flow of water, a turbine would have wrested electrical energy from the power of the river.
The construction site has been idle for years, but the project has now been put out to tender.
A second dam was also planned a few loops down the river, near the village of Poçem.
A Turkish company wanted to produce electricity here.
The company has since taken over the project in Kalivaç after an Italian businessman left.
Unforeseeable consequences
Investors praised the news of the dam project as an investment in green electricity.
After all, hydropower is better for the climate than coal-fired power plants.
And the fact that Albania, a poor country, wants to meet its increasing energy needs, can hardly be blamed on the government in Tirana by the European industrial nations.
Nevertheless, the two dams would be a disaster for the unique flora and fauna of the Vjosa.
Sea bass migrating up the river from the Adriatic Sea could not possibly negotiate the concrete walls.
In addition, the structures would seriously disrupt the transport of sediments.
What consequences this would have for the ecological balance of the electricity cannot be foreseen in detail.
The ecologists only predict one thing: because the Vjosa transports a particularly large amount of sediment, the lakes in front of the dams would silt up after 20 to 30 years anyway.
Then it would either be over with energy generation or the operators would have to invest large sums of money to deepen the water.
Not a problem for the environment?
Numerous other hydropower projects are being planned or under construction in the Balkans.
But many of them were hardly worth it in view of their dramatic ecological balance and the high investment costs.
"Basically, hydropower energy in the Balkans would have to be reassessed," says Ulrich Eichelmann from Riverwatch.
Nevertheless, the environmentalists will hardly be able to prevent a number of hydropower projects.
But Eichelmann does not want to give up Vjosa without a fight.
"If both dam projects are overturned and a national park really comes into being, it would be one of the greatest successes for environmental protection in Europe," says the landscape ecologist.
It is hardly surprising that scientists and environmentalists are against the construction of hydropower plants and dams.
The fact that they have a good chance of success in the case of the Kalivaç dam is due not least to the environmental impact assessment submitted by the planners.
It is required by law, but the inspection of the Kalivaç dam contained a number of qualitative deficiencies.
Various environmental protection associations in Albania sued the paper.
Recently, the Albanian Ministry of Environmental Protection followed the plaintiffs' assessments - Prime Minister Rama announced that too.
But the alliance of researchers and activists does not want to celebrate yet, the decision from Tirana is viewed with cautious optimism.
In fact, a request from SPIEGEL asking for official confirmation of Rama's project cancellation and questions about the national park went unanswered.
Because in Albania the circumstances can change again quickly.
And one can even show understanding for the situation of the Albanians.
It must seem strange to the government that countries that have long ruined many of their bodies of water are explaining to them how environmental protection works.
Establishing a national park - not an easy undertaking
Elections are due next year, and Rama is aiming for a third term.
It is possible that the former basketball player and artist does not want the Vjosa issue to arise in the election campaign and at the same time send a strong signal for Europe.
Albania has been a candidate for accession to the European Union for a number of years and the issue of biodiversity as well as climate and environmental protection is now officially very popular in Brussels.
A wild river national park would certainly be favorably noted.
Recently, the European Energy Community, an organization that wants to promote the Southeast European energy market between the EU and some third countries, opened a dispute over the dam project in Poçem.
The organization had identified violations of EU regulations.
Meanwhile, the energy community has responded positively to the news from Rama.
"We fully support the Albanian government in making this decision," said Deputy Director Dirk Buschle.
But even if Albania is serious about the park, there are still hurdles.
"I'm sure that nobody there knows exactly what it means to create such a national park," says Schiemer.
The small Balkan state, which has almost a million fewer inhabitants than Berlin, would need international support for such a project, in his opinion.
Criteria for national parks are precisely defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN.
To implement it, a multi-digit million amount should be necessary.
Experts have to define core protection zones, plan educational centers and direct the flows of visitors that would bring Albania ecotourists.
All of this will take several years.
After all, the work of the biologists has already made one thing possible: the people on the river have realized what kind of ecological treasure they have on their doorstep.
When newspapers in Albania reported on the wild river and also quoted the international media, that changed a lot.
In the meantime, some people proudly spoke of the blue heart of Europe when they mean their Vjosa.
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