Association of Protection and Preservation of the Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA)

Dear colleagues, admirer of nature conservation and environmental protection

Through this letter we would like to inform that the Association of Protection and Preservation of the Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA) in collaboration with our international partners Euronatur and Riverwatch, about 2 months from now has started a pan-Balkanic campaign in the frame of the initiative to preserve and protect the Balkan rivers from human intervention through a comprehensive platform in which has been invited most of the actors and factors that are operating in the environmental issues or them who have influence on these issues.

The Aoos river and the diversion from the values of sustainable development

By Apostolos Katsikis, Emeritus Professor at University of Ioannina

  Translation in English by Faidra Faitaki.

The Aoos river originates in the northern slopes of the Pindos sierra, passes through the Zagori region, seeps through the Smolika-Timfi valley, passes through the Konitsa valley and enters Albania. Its entire hydrographic network is extended, due to the fact that important tributaries (Voidomatis, Sarandaporos, and others on Greek ground) come off the main stream. The Aoos’s route is 260km in total; of this, 70km of the river flows through Greece. Importantly, the aforementioned network has created a large number of habitats and feeds -in the literal sense- numerous ecosystems, with which it is inextricably linked. The substance, the existence, the present and the future of these ecosystems is a result of the specific characteristics and unique elements of the river system of the Aoos. A potential diversion or alternation in the system from a geological, geomorphological, hydrographical, environmental, climactic, hydrological, physicochemical and biological aspect, will have negative consequences on all aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems connected to the Aoos.

Can mistakes correct mistakes?

Translation in English by Faidra Faitaki.

Nikos Palaiologos-phasma2

The Hydroelectric Power Work at Aoosriver started in 1988. Since then, 100.000.000m³ of water has been lost. As a result, Aoos has been reduced to a tributary of the ValiaKalda stream (Arkoudorema) and cannot join  the rivers Voidomatis and Sarandaporos at Konitsa during the summer months as it used to. The trout and nimachilos populations are constantly decreasing. The river’s largest fish species, the sirtari (which resembles the mullet), is now extinct. By contrast, the crayfish population has increased, although the species was not common in Aoos before. The river’s flow velocity has reduced and stagnation has led to an increase in water temperature, as well as poor water ventilation and oxygenation. The bottom of the river is now covered with mud and shows signs of eutrophication.