On Saturday, May 20th, 2023, an informative event was held in Kefalochori of Konitsa, during which the cross-border effort to protect the Aoos/Vjosa river was presented to residents and stakeholders of the wider Aoos river basin and particularly its sub-basin Sarantaporos.
Keynote speakers of the event were Alexandra Pappa, MedINA’s Freshwater Programme Manager, Aspa Skaperda, Representative of the Association and Initiative of Aetomilitsa Residents and Vassilis Nitsiakos, Professor of Social Folklore at the University of Ioannina. Representatives from the cultural associations of the Mastrochoria – villages of Sarantaporos, a tributary of Aoos, were also present.
Through her presentation, Alexandra Pappa referred to the importance of streams and the relationship between them and their main rivers and tributaries within a single hydrographic system. She also informed the attendees about the “Save the Blue Heart of Europe” campaign, giving a brief overview of its history. Focusing on the Aoos/Vjosa river – symbol of the campaign, she demonstrated the need to its institutional protection, as the largest and the only free-flowing transboundary river in Europe. She also spoke about the initiative of the Albanian authorities to declare the Vjosa River a National Park as well as the ten year long joint efforts of civil society, scientists, activists and dedicated supporters towards this institutional recognition of the river on the Albanian territory. Finally, she spoke about the 49 hydropower plants planned in the Aoos river basin in Greece, the political commitments – at national and cross-border levels – for the protection of the river in the Greek territory as well, and the collective actions that can be implemented in order to keep the Aoos river “free” for the next generations.
Aspa Skaperda made an extensive reference to the way in which hydropower plants are being promoted, licensed, and implemented, and the negative effects they may have on the rivers’ streams, the flora and fauna and the environment in general. At the same time, she focused on the importance of participatory actions, but also on the residents’ and stakeholders’ involvement in public consultations, to prevent the construction of hydropower plants and to protect the Aoos, Sarantaporos and Voidomatis rivers and their streams.
Finally, Vassilis Nitsiakos sent a strong message through his speech: “Let us all hurry up and protect our land”. He argued that the Aoos river does not only unite two countries. It is a single ecosystem -as he said- which if destroyed, culture will collapse with it and national and collective memory will be lost. He spoke about the studies that have been carried out on the diversity of the river, the effective actions that Albania has implemented to protect the Vjosa river, and the efforts that need to be made individually and collectively to prevent hydropower plants in the Aoos river basin and promote its institutional protection.
The event concluded with interventions by the representatives of cultural associations of the villages of Mastorochoria, who decided to set up a joint committee to follow up on the issues raised during the event.
We would like to extend a warm thank you to Aetomilitsa Association for the invitation, the Cultural Association of Kefalochori for hosting us and the representatives and residents of the villages Drosopigi, Kastaniani, Aetomilitsa, Gorgopotamos, Pyrsogianni, Plagia and Vourbiani for their presence and the fruitful dialogue that followed.
