99,921 supporters End of campaign: Mar 5, 2015

One of the oldest national parks in Europe is under attack. Macedonia intends to build two large hydropower plants in the habitat of the last remaining population of the Balkan lynx. If the projects go ahead as foreseen, it may go extinct. Call on the banks and the Macedonian Prime Minister to scrap the projects!

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To: To the Macedonian Prime Minister, to the President of the EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) and to the World Bank´s Country Director for Southeast Europe “Scrap the plans for hydropower plants in Mavrovo National Park, Macedonia” Read letter

The Mavrovo National Park is one of Europe’s oldest national parks. Bears, wolves, otters, and rare fish species roam freely in its mountainous landscape, primeval forests and numerous creeks and rivers. One species is outstanding, however: the Balkan lynx. Only about 50 of these animals are believed have survived to this day. Mavrovo National Park is the center of this remaining population and the only place where it is still known to procreate successfully.

If we don’t act immediately, the Balkan lynx is likely to go extinct. Two large hydropower plants are slated to be built in the middle of the national park. Being sold to the public as green sources of energy, the World Bank and the EBRD intend to support the projects with a total of EUR 135 million. They are thereby financing the destruction of the national park and the extermination of the Balkan lynx.

“Mavrovo hosts [...] the last source of population with reproduction of the Balkan lynx [...]. Putting any additional stress on this source population may lead to the extinction of one of the most threatened mammal populations in Europe,” says Dr. Urs Breitenmoser, Co-Chair, IUCN-SSC Cat Specialist Group.

“These projects are not only threatening to destroy this particular national park, they undermine the very idea of national parks,” warns Gabriel Schwaderer, CEO of the Foundation for Conservation EuroNatur. “If we do not even succeed in protecting nature and biodiversity in national parks, do we stand a chance to preserve it anywhere else?” Riverwatch CEO Ulrich Eichelmann adds.

It is unlikely that the Macedonian government will be capable of realizing these projects without the World Bank’s and EBRD’s financial aid. Take action and call on the banks to refuse funding and the Macedonian Prime Minister to scrap the projects.





The Mavrovo National Park in Macedonia is one of Europe’s oldest national parks. It stretches over an area of 73,000 hectares and is located in Western Macedonia, sharing a border with Kosovo and Albania. Two major hydropower projects are putting the park at risk: 1. Boskov Most Hydropower Project Dam height: 33 m

Output: 68 MW

Max daily flush: 22 m³/s in 5h per day (average discharge of Mala Reka: 5.75 m³/s)

Construction/widening of new roads: 16.4 km

New supply channels: 19.70 km

Directly affected area inside Mavrovo NP: 935 ha

Investment: EUR 84 million, EUR 65 million provided by a EBRD loan

2. Lukovo Pole Hydropower Project

Dam height: 71 m

Output: 6 MW, estimated at 159 GWh per year with respect to additional benefits from existing HPPs

Max daily flush: 6 m³/s

Construction/widening of roads: > 20 km road widening and paving

New supply channels: 19.95 km

Directly affected area inside Mavrovo NP: 3,546 ha

Investment: EUR 83 million, EUR 70 million provided by a World Bank loan Hydropower Project More information at http://www.balkanrivers.net/en/key-areas/mavrovo-national-park