Until recently, progress was hampered by government subsidies that favored hydroelectric power-incentives established more than a decade ago, when wind and solar seemed prohibitively expensive. Given the ecological consequences of damming rivers, wind and solar power will be key. And with some early victories in the Balkans, this new approach is showing signs it could offer big dividends for freshwater habitats around the world.Īs the rest of Europe moves toward a future that is less dependent on fossil fuels, some countries in the Balkan Peninsula are working to catch up. But the freshwater team at TNC is now working to turn the tide by building a global framework-inspired by legislation enacted more than 50 years ago in the United States-that can be used to give rivers permanent legal protection. Worldwide, only 17% of rivers are both free-flowing and within protected areas. Meanwhile, almost a third of freshwater fish are threatened with extinction, and monitored populations of freshwater wildlife are down an average of 84% since 1970. The plight of this region, which freshwater protection advocates have taken to calling the Blue Heart of Europe, is not unique. “Rivers need our deliberate and focused efforts to protect them, too.” “Conservation strategies, historically, have been terrestrially based, but that’s not doing the job,” says Amy Newsock, TNC’s global freshwater protection program advisor. Hundreds of dams have already been built, and the proposals are still coming-according to the regional group RiverWatch, the next few years could see almost 3,000 new hydropower plants across the Balkans, including within the boundaries of national parks. “But the victories were temporary and the defeats were permanent,” says Zablocki, who studied community-based conservation as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Ljubljana, in Slovenia.

Community groups have succeeded in preventing some projects, occasionally with help from international environmental organizations.

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