2024-01-01
SARAJEVO - This investigation explores the damages caused to nature and small rural communities by the construction of the small hydropower plants and their access roads, and what drove investors, especially foreign ones, to seek opportunities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s 262 rivers are some of the few wild streams left in Europe, which has made the more than 11,000 kilometres over which they flow a tempting economic opportunity for investors in the hydroelectric energy sector. Around 500 small hydropower plants projects have sprung up since 2005, when Bosnia and Herzegovina joined the Energy Community Treaty. The country's long-standing corruption problems have also facilitated foreign investments, particularly from companies from the European Union. In reaction to this boom, a grassroots, widespread and inter-ethnic movement for the protection of rivers spread all over the country.
The project also looks at how citizens organised themselves, forming a national coalition to protect their rivers, despite the lack of support from local institutions and the sometimes specious complaints received from investors.
Photo: Marco Carlone
Mentor
Supported
€8,693 allocated on 28/08/2023ID
ENV1/2023/281Grant
Tags
ONLINE
- In Bosnia ed Erzegovina le comunità locali combattono per i propri fiumi, Altreconomia, 01/01/2024
- Belgisch energiebedrijf in juridische krachtmeting met jonge Bosnische activisten, Apache, 11/01/2024
- Le comunità della Bosnia e Erzegovina unite per il loro fiumi, Internazionale, 03/02/2024
- Altreconomia magazine, issue 266, January 2024
COUNTRIES
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
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