I blogged about the River Vjosa in Albania back in March, and if you missed this wonderful video then, have a look at it now;
This week sees the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize going to a campaigner defending free-flowing rivers in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Press release from Euronatur and Riverwatch:
Goldman Environmental Prize for the ‘Brave Women of Kruščica’
++ River defenders from Bosnia and Herzegovina win the Goldman Environmental Prize ++ For the second time in the past three years an activist has received this prestigious award for campaigning against hydropower in the Balkans. ++
San Francisco, Kruščica, Vienna, Radolfzell, June 16th, 2021. On Wednesday evening (16.00 local time), Maida Bilal received the renowned 2021 Goldman Environmental Prize on behalf of the ‘brave women of Kruščica’. The prize is endowed with $200,000 USD. The Jury justified their decision on the grounds that hydropower is not green, and is one of the greatest threats to wild rivers and the people living along their banks. Maida Bilal and the other women fought for one of the last free-flowing rivers in Europe – and won. The group of women from the village of Kruščica in Bosnia and Herzegovina had occupied a bridge over their river for over 500 days and nights, despite violent eviction attempts by the police and even during the long, cold winter – and thereby prevented the construction of two hydropower plants.
The international foundation EuroNatur had already recognised their extraordinary courage and persistence with the 2019 EuroNatur Prize. Gabriel Schwaderer, Executive Director of EuroNatur, has welcomed the decision of the jury: ‘The commitment of these courageous women to their natural livelihoods is exemplary. I am delighted that the EuroNatur laureates will attract international attention with the awarding of the Goldman Prize, the so-called ‘Green Nobel Prize’.‘.
This is the second time in the last three years that this award has gone to activists fighting against the construction of hydropower in the Balkans. In 2019, Ana Colovic Lesoska from North Macedonia was honoured for campaigning against dam projects in her country. ‘This is, as far as I know, a novelty and an extraordinary motivation for all those who stand up for the Blue Heart of Europe. It is also a political signal to the governments of the region as well as to the EU, financial institutions and banks to keep their hands off Balkan rivers,‘ said Ulrich Eichelmann, CEO of Riverwatch.
