The Dam Tsunami
The campaign launches in 2012 as roughly 2,700 hydropower projects are mapped across rivers from Slovenia to Greece. The first battle lines form around Mavrovo and the Sava.
Part of Riverwatch
5 moments in this segment.
- — Save the Blue Heart of Europe launches. RiverWatch and EuroNatur launch the "Save the Blue Heart of Europe" campaign, mapping the threat: roughly 2,700 hydropower plants planned across Balkan rivers from Slovenia to Greece.
- — Mavrovo National Park under threat. Two large dams (Boškov Most and Lukovo Pole) are planned inside North Macedonia's oldest national park, Mavrovo — core habitat of the Balkan lynx. The campaign makes it an early flagship fight.
- — The Sava — a river across four countries. The Sava, the Danube's largest tributary by discharge, runs through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia. Its surviving wetlands and gravel banks become a test case for cross-border river protection.
- — World Bank pulls out of Mavrovo dam. After sustained campaigning, the World Bank withdraws its loan for the Boškov Most dam inside Mavrovo National Park, and the Bern Convention recommends suspending the project — the campaign's first major win.
- — Balkan Rivers Tour — kayakers join the fight. Slovenian kayaker Rok Rozman launches the Balkan Rivers Tour, paddling threatened rivers across the peninsula to draw the world's attention to the dam boom. Activism meets whitewater.
