Volunteers plant trees to help protect Albania’s Vjosa after national park status

About 20 volunteers spent a week planting willow and poplar saplings on the banks above the Vjosa River in southern Albania as part of a conservation effort run by EcoAlbania and the Austria-based Riverwatch. In 2023 the Albanian government designated the Vjosa as Europe’s first "wild river national park." The group’s induction came from Pietro, an Italian hydromorphologist, who demonstrated how to lift spindly saplings without damaging stems or roots: "The trick is not to accidentally snick the stem or break the roots," he said.

Riverwatch’s chief executive, Ulrich Eichelmann, used a presentation to outline threats to Europe’s rivers, criticising dams and warning that the Vjosa, while spared damming, is missing trees. Research co-funded by Riverwatch found Albania has lost 711 miles (1,144km) of "nearly natural" river stretches since 2018, and the charities say fires, logging, road building and aggressive grazing have reduced tree cover, increasing erosion and flood risk.

Planting was interrupted when heavy rain flooded the chosen zone, with Pietro reporting the site was several feet underwater. Volunteers spent the downtime visiting nearby towns, churches and gorges; some popular activities such as rafting and kayaking were not possible while the river was swollen.