We are pleased to announce our support for 33 new projects to help reconnect Europe’s rivers. This latest cohort of grantees proposes effective solutions to map and prioritise strategic barriers for removal, take the preparatory steps to remove obsolete dams, and continue the work towards free-flowing rivers, in line with the EU’s environmental 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 13 barriers, expected to open up close to 117 kilometres of rivers.
As a star example, we highlight the first dam removal in Kosovo, following a previous pre-demolition Open Rivers Programme grant. The removal of the obsolete Mirusha dam will reconnect 35 km of river in a biodiversity hotspot. Led by Ecopana, the project will deliver great ecological benefits, restoring natural flow and sediment transport, enabling fish movement and supporting the recovery of aquatic biodiversity in a river that hosts 157 animal species, including a spider species new to science, Eratigena mirusha, identified with previous ORP funding. It will particularly benefit fish such as the European bitterling and the near-threatened Albanian roach, and will strengthen conservation efforts within the protected Mirusha Waterfalls Nature Monument.
Also in the spotlight is the Valverde dam removal project in the Bullón River, led by Asociación Red Cambera. A previous Open Rivers Programme grant supported all preparatory work, and now the dam is ready to be removed, opening up 24 km of river in the Cantabria region of Spain. The demolition continues the work of four other dams already removed in the Deva River basin (one of which with ORP funding), and will benefit key species including Atlantic salmon, sea lamprey, brown trout, Eurasian otter and the common kingfisher.
Pre-demolition projects are equally promising for freshwater ecological recovery, with an impressive 36 barriers prepared for removal that are expected to reconnect approximately 382.4 kilometres of river.
A powerful example comes from Romania, where a barrier on the Bega River will be prepared for removal by Fauna and Flora’s team, eventually opening up 72 km of river. Inventories of the river have confirmed that the targeted site is a biodiversity hotspot with over 18 fish species, including the Romanian barbel, European bitterling, Carpathian brook lamprey, and the near-threatened common nase.
Additionally, a multi-barrier project, led by Rewilding Sweden in the Ume and Vindelälven Catchments, will prepare six barriers for removal, which would result in 126 km of river being reconnected. The rivers flow through the Vindel River Landscape UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, a region of high ecological value that also includes several Natura 2000 sites connected to the river system. The removal of the proposed barriers will have a cumulative effect, given the several completed and ongoing ORP-funded projects in the same catchment.
Among the 11 identification and prioritisation grants awarded, the spotlight goes to the first-ever Open Rivers Programme project implemented in Moldova. The team at the National Environmental Centerwill map the Ciuluc River Basin, aiming to identify 200 barriers.
Open Rivers Programme has so far supported 243 projects in 35 European countries. To date, we have supported projects that have removed 141 barriers, reconnecting 1,820 kilometres of river!
