Arnika - Rivers must be wild and natural

Rivers must be wild and natural

26.6.2017 - Bosnia and Herzegovina

The team of Arnika visited local activists by the river Kruscica. The river is jeopardized by construction of several hydropower plants.

Place by the river is a popular resting spot. The picnic houses and children playground were build and financed by the municipality. If the construction started, they would have to disappear

Haris, a teacher at a basic school, explains the negative impacts on the local community if the river was dammed.

The river Kruscica supplies nearby villages by drinking water. It is also the main source of drinking water for the city of Zenica.

We also visited the nearby town of Fojnica. Citizens of Fojnica decided to protect their river Željeznica with their bodies. They obstructed the construction of hydropower plant for more than 340 days. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, a physical blockade i

Veterinarian Zeljzko is showing us the place of the blockade where people build an improvised shelter. They spent here even the Christmas holiday.

The river Zeljeznica is a fast, mountain river.

A traditional water mill would be destroyed if the hydropower plant was constructed.

Construction of big dam Bocac on the Vrbas river was started in the year 1981. There is a plan to construct another two dams on the Vrbas.

The plant doesn´t maintain the minimum ecological flow and the river bed is often dry.

Hydropower plant RAMA is so-called derivation hydropower plant. The water from river bed is diverted to turbines through derivation pipes. In RAMA case two 10 kilometers long tunnels were dug through rocks and the water is taken from an artificial RA

Another big dam is planned to be constructed in the canyon of the Neretva river, in the area of the beautiful and majestic Bosnian and Herzegovinian mountains. It is hard to believe that this area does not fall under any nature or landscape protectio

Rivers can have different uses than energy production. A national championship in fly-fishing took place on the river Neretva at the time of our visit.

Rivers can have different uses than energy production. A national championship in fly-fishing took place on the river Neretva at the time of our visit.

The water from Neretva river is crystal clear and one can drink directly from the river.

A Balkan trout is endemic specie that lives only in the area of Western Balkans.

The last day we visited Sarajevo and presented published studies and forthcoming report on ecological democracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The event was opened by the Ambassador of the Czech Republic in Bosnia and Herzegovina Jakub Skalnik.

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