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France 24
06-08-2025
- Politics
- France 24
'Not backing down': activists block hydro plants in N.Macedonia
For over a month, protesters have blocked roads into Hydro Dosnica's remote construction sites on Mount Kozuf, where two small hydroelectric power plants are proposed on what activists claim is one of the last healthy rivers in the country. "Until the licenses are cancelled and all machines are removed from the river Dosnica, we will not move," environmental activist Marina Tomova told AFP at her mountainous campsite near the southern border with Greece. Opponents have been fighting developers for years, fearing the plants will ruin a vital ecosystem in a basin already stretched by decreasing rainfall and hotter summers. Hydro Dosnica has rejected the allegations of damaging the river, and said the project follows environmental standards. In recent years, Balkan governments have welcomed hundreds of hydro developments with lucrative subsidies, drawing a flood of investors who promise to harness a potentially reliable and renewable energy source. According to a 2024 report from conservation groups EuroNatur and Riverwatch, the Balkans have around 1,800 hydropower plants and over 3,000 planned. The vast majority are small-scale plants like those being built on the Dosnica. In response, protest movements have sprung up too, arguing that the ecological footprint and impact for those living on the rivers far outweighs the output from the small plants. But the report also notes that hundreds of slated plants have since been axed and the booming number of planned builds has slowed slightly since its 2022 peak. North Macedonia has around 125 small plants, with plans to almost double that, according to the report. Much smaller than huge hydroelectric dams, the stations divert water through a pipe into a turbine kilometres downstream. An 'extinct' river On Mount Kozuf, protesters accuse Hydro Dosnica of breaching its licence by illegally felling swathes of forest and irreparably damaging the river's upper basin. Protester Kiril Ruzinov said that during summer months, the river's flow slows and any redirection of the stream would run it dry. "It is too small; it cannot fill a tenth of the pipe. If it is put into a pipe, the whole riverbed will be extinct," the 65-year-old told AFP. The law requires developers to leave at least 10 percent of the stream to flow naturally. The developer Hydro Dosnica, in a statement to AFP, said the activist's allegations were "incorrect and tendentious" and the project was "being carried out transparently, respecting all environmental and technical standards". The firm said it was ready to engage with environmental experts and institutions regarding any new findings at the site. The environment ministry did not respond to requests for comment. These small plants, with a capacity up to 10 megawatts each, accounted for just four percent of North Macedonia's overall energy production in 2020, according to the latest available data from the state audit service. At the time it had around 90 small hydro plants already in operation, according to EuroNatur and Riverwatch. Hotter, drier summers coupled with more extreme flooding events driven by climate change are posing a challenge to hydropower generation around the world. A 2023 study of a different river basin, which begins in North Macedonia and flows into Albania and Montenegro, found that climate change could cut yearly hydropower generation there by up to 52 percent by 2050. The research, funded by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, warned that hydro-reliant Albania would be worst impacted by changes in the Drina basin and suggested investing in other renewable sources to secure its grid. 'Not backing down' One of the few rivers in North Macedonia still clean enough to drink from, the Dosnica is a small tributary to the Vardar, which flows into Greece. It is home to "exceptionally" valuable animals -- including several protected species, according to environmental non-profit Eko Svest. Along with a group of prominent scientists, the NGO has appealed to the government to officially protect the river. In a previous statement published online, the government said it was "closely monitoring public reactions and is ready to encourage an open and constructive dialogue with all stakeholders". The government recently extended the license for the development until April 2026. "The devastating projects here have to stop," Risto Kamov, from environmental activist group Changemakers4All, told AFP. © 2025 AFP
The Guardian
17-03-2025
- The Guardian
Storrington in West Sussex named UK's first European stork village
The Saxons knew the West Sussex village of Storrington as Estorchestone, the 'abode of the storks'. But the graceful white birds disappeared from its skies more than 600 years ago, when they became extinct in Britain. Now, after the white stork's successful return, Storrington and the nearby Knepp estate have been designated a 'European stork village'. The accolade means the communities are now part of the European Stork Villages Network, a transnational initiative by the EuroNatur foundation to combat habitat loss for the birds. Together, Storrington and Knepp are the 16th place in Europe to be recognised as a stork village, and the first in the UK. The storks are thriving again on the Knepp wildland, the first major lowland rewilding project in England. A record-breaking 53 white storks fledged from wild nests here in 2024, mostly in the tops of ancient oak trees. The birds line their huge nests with soft, fibrous dung from Knepp's free-roaming ponies. Storks are finding the rewilded former farmland of Knepp ideal habitat, with its insect- and earthworm-rich rough meadows and wetlands providing plenty of food. Pairs are also bonding at another site in Wadhurst, East Sussex, and are frequently seen flying across the region. The scheme to bring white storks back to Britain began in 2016, with the White Stork project, a collaboration between the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, Cotswold Wildlife Park, the Knepp estate and Wadhurst Park. First, a group of birds were introduced from Warsaw zoo to Knepp. These drew in wild birds, and the first free-flying pairs hatched chicks in the wild in 2020. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion The expanding colony migrates to Morocco for the winter months before returning to Sussex to nest. More than a thousand schoolchildren visit Knepp each year to learn about storks and rewilding. This year, a webcam is also following one of the 15 nests already recorded this breeding season, which is set to be another record-breaker. Isabella Tree, the owner of Knepp with her husband, Charlie Burrell, said: 'I'm hoping we can get the webcam feed into hospital waiting rooms, schools, care homes, prisons and train stations this year. It's the kind of soothing thing we should be watching instead of wall-to-wall news.'
