Natural rivers and free-flowing waterways in the Balkans have declined significantly in the past 13 years, according to a recent study as part of the “Save the Blue Heart of Europe” campaign. With the Balkans hosting some of the last free-flowing rivers in Europe, researchers have identified an escalating threat to the region’s natural heritage.
According to the report, around 2,450 kilometres of free-flowing waterways have been lost in the period, reducing the proportion of natural rivers by 7% in 13 years.
The study, which was completed in 2025, following a similar one in 2012, and was carried out by Riverwatch and EuroNatur, examines 83,824 kilometres of rivers in 11 countries, including Greece. At the same time, however, it raises another crucial issue, that of the connectivity of river networks, that is, whether rivers remain free to function as unified and living ecosystems.
"Throughout the rest of Europe, we have a very big problem with barriers, but also with the actual breaking of rivers into smaller parts, which do not allow free communication of organisms," explains Fanikos Sakellarakis, the coordinator of the Water Program at the Mediterranean Institute for Nature and Man (MedINA) - one of the campaign's partners - to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.
At the same time, he emphasizes that beyond the quality and chemical composition of the waters, that is, whether pollution is recorded that may undermine its ecological characteristics, a crucial factor is also their ecological connectivity, that is, whether a river network ultimately flows freely and is not obstructed by a dam.
What is happening with the rivers of the Balkans – What is the situation in Greece?
In the Balkans, as Mr. Sakellarakis emphasizes, the rivers of the region are still trying to maintain a good ecological condition and have several sections with ecological connectivity, that is, they are free-flowing and have maintained their natural characteristics. However, as demonstrated by the study from 2012 to 2025, a negative trend is observed as 2,500 kilometers of free river corridors have been lost in 13 years.
At the same time, the sections that were converted into artificial reservoirs increased by 18%. As Mr. Sakellarakis underlines, in the framework of the report, rivers are classified into different categories, namely those that are natural, those that have been slightly, moderately, extensively and to a large extent.
As for Greece, as Mr. Sakellarakis points out, 35% of its rivers maintain their natural state, 33% have been slightly modified (mild interventions) and 22-23% are assessed as extensively modified or significantly modified. At the same time, according to MedINA, over 3,500 km. of river networks have been significantly modified, while the heavily altered sections are mainly located on the major river axes of the country and are limited to 4%. Such examples, according to Mr. Sakellarakis, are the Aliakmonas and the Acheloos. However, as he notes, Greece is in a good situation compared to the rest of the Balkans, although there is no data from the previous report that had been prepared.
"Compared to other Balkan countries, such as Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, we are at a good level, while the queen of rivers at the moment in terms of ecological connectivity is Montenegro. Greece is close to what we could say as the Balkan average. Unfortunately, we see that some countries, and even our neighboring countries, such as Albania, have lost a significant number of rivers in the last 13 years, resulting in their ecological quality being somewhat undermined," Mr. Sakellarakis emphasizes to APE-MPE.
What are the threats they face?
As Mr. Sakellarakis points out, the rivers in Greece and the Balkans are currently “at the center of efforts for their protection, their promotion and their rational approach” to issues related to flood protection, however, he emphasizes that the practices proposed as solutions are more related to the protection of human capital and infrastructure.
In addition, according to him, the climate crisis further aggravates the situation, as it has “a dual character”.
“On the one hand, we observe the phenomena of the reduction of water in river networks, but at the same time we see that many times issues arise that have to do with flood phenomena,” he explains, noting that rivers are now “in an intense dialogue and a confrontation regarding the approach that we should ultimately follow.”
“It is worth noting that free rivers and the protection of their floodplains, the protection of the connectivity of rivers, are at the core of a rational approach for the protection of people, infrastructure, but also obviously for the protection of the ecological quality itself. The important thing that arises is the problem of what these constructions are that are coming and undermining the quality, the ecological state of the rivers. And there, unfortunately, what the study identifies and what we also mentioned about the kilometers of free rivers that have been lost, it turns out that it is the siting of new small hydroelectric or electrical projects in general. This is our big concern. At the moment when we are talking in the Balkans we have more than 1,800 hydroelectric projects that are in operational status. But we also have more than 3,000 projects that are in the licensing process”, he points out.
Regarding Greece, as he emphasizes, “it turns out that at the moment we have approximately 120 small hydroelectric projects that are accumulated in areas of high ecological value, such as the entire Pindos mountain range. And at the same time we have more than 500 projects that are in different stages of licensing, which if licensed tomorrow the number will change a lot for our own country”. “On the one hand we have 120 different small hydroelectric projects but these small hydroelectric projects ultimately contribute to only 1.6% of the needs of covering Greece’s electricity production”, he adds.
What emerges, as he explains, is the necessity of a rational approach to the framework for the eventual siting of small hydroelectric projects, without, however, questioning the need for renewable energy sources.
"No serious environmental scientist will say anything different in the situation we are experiencing today, that of absolute climate collapse. But what we must come and bring to the fore is the necessity of a rational approach to the framework for the eventual siting of small hydroelectric projects. In other words, we cannot, in areas of high ecological value on rivers, which we see that even today after so many years, so many decades, they have maintained their ecological connectivity, go and install small hydroelectric projects. We need a new spatial planning for renewable energy sources because unfortunately the current framework is outdated and the last one we had for Greece was in 2008”, notes Mr. Sakellarakis, while adding that the regulation on the restoration of nature, which was passed by the EU in August 2024, needs to be brought to the fore again.
“This is a basic environmental policy tool which, among many other goals it sets, explicitly stipulates that member states must release 25,000 kilometers of rivers by 2030. Fortunately, the Ministry of Environment and Energy itself has already entered a process of preparing the national plan for the restoration of nature, which must be submitted to the Commission in September this year, to which the project team itself and MedINA are trying to contribute with the expertise it has. "in order to identify which areas can be supported with actions to restore ecological connectivity, but obviously also by identifying areas that currently have high ecological value, connectivity and environmental characteristics that should be prioritized for their protection against anything that could undermine their connectivity," he concludes.
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