A permit to operate must not become a licence to destroy nature
November 3, 2026 | Read more
Earlier this year, a proposal was put forward in the Latvian Parliament to transpose the EU Environmental Crime Directive. But industry interests lobbied for a loophole that threatened to further weaken protection for species and habitats. With nature in Latvia already under severe pressure, joint advocacy by environmental organisations and constructive engagement from members of Parliament helped secure a last-minute compromise that was adopted in early October.
Dighomi Meadows is the last surviving floodplain forest in Tbilisi. A refuge for otters, kingfishers, pond turtles and more than 40 other species protected by the Bern Convention, it was meant to be restored under a rehabilitation strategy drawn up in 2024 with support from the Asian Development Bank.
How monitoring EU funds helped strengthen wetland protection in Poland
October 12, 2026 | Read more
Protecting nature is often about spotting problems early, asking the right questions and knowing how to use the tools available. As members of the monitoring committee for the European Funds for Wielkopolska 2021-2027 programme, we did exactly that when we uncovered an EU-funded project that was destroying a valuable peatland in the name of climate adaptation.
Slovenia’s state-owned Hidroelektrarne na Spodnji Savi (HESS) has for two decades been trying to build the controversial Mokrice hydropower plant on the river Sava. But poor quality environmental studies have been repeatedly quashed in court by the Slovenian Native Fish Society, and a recent transboundary assessment’s claims that the impacts will stop at the Croatian border are far from convincing.
When the Republika Srpska authorities signed contracts with the China Eximbank to finance the Dabar hydropower plant at the end of 2021, it seemed like the first and largest part of the Upper Horizons complex was a done deal. Today, more than four years later, obstacles are piling up for this controversial project, providing a much-needed opportunity to rethink the whole idea.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Upper Drina hydropower scheme would turn 30 kilometres of this iconic river into stagnant reservoirs and cut a key Danube Salmon habitat into pieces. Its largest dam would be the 118-megawatt Buk Bijela, first proposed in the 1970s but repeatedly scuppered due to its impact on Montenegro’s Tara Canyon. Now a new environmental assessment is out for public consultation, but it’s being more than economical with the truth.
