We are excited to announce our support for 14 new projects! Spread across Europe, these initiatives mark important milestones in the journey towards achieving free-flowing rivers, in line with the EU’senvironmental targets.
The newly awarded projects fall into four grant types: A1 barrier identification and prioritisation, A2 pre-demolition and A3 and A4 demolition. Among the demolition grants (A3 and A4), funding will support the removal of seven barriers, expected to open up 62 kilometres of rivers.
A standout project led by the Mersey Rivers Trust, in the United Kingdom, will remove a weir on the River Alt, reconnecting 49 km of upstream habitat for fish including the critically endangered European eel. This is a follow-on grant from a previous pre-demolition project supported by the Open Rivers Programme – a great example of how the programme can support every step of the removal journey.
Pre-demolition projects are equally promising for freshwater ecological recovery, with eight barriers prepared for removal that are expected to reconnect approximately 183 kilometres of river. A powerful example comes from Latvia, where the removal of a single barrier on the Melnupe River would open up 126 km of river, restoring access to spawning and nursery habitats for sea trout and European river lamprey. This project is led by Pasaules Dabas Fonds, an organisation that sums up five Open Rivers Programme-supported projects.
Among the three-barrier identification and prioritisation grants awarded, the spotlight goes to the first Open Rivers Programme-supported project in Cyprus, led by an academic institution, the Frederick Research Center. The project will deliver the first field-verified barrier inventory and prioritisation to enable future barrier removal and restore free-flowing connectivity in the Diarizos catchment.
Another highlight is located in Bulgaria, where a identification grant led by the Rewilding Rhodopes Foundation will study an impressive catchment area of 5,201 km² in the Arda River catchment, which flows through one of Europe’s most wilderness-rich areas, home to vultures, brown bears, and the European bison. The Arda has not previously been targeted by river restoration projects, and the project aims to establish a proper inventory, identifying around 250 barriers, taking a critical step to enable future dam removal actions.
Open Rivers Programme has so far supported 210 projects in 34 European countries. To date, we have supported projects that have removed 118 barriers, reconnecting 1,765 kilometres of river!
