Biodiversity Campaigner
Email: andrey.ralev [at] bankwatch.orgTel.:
I was born in Bulgaria, lived in Venezuela, Spain, Armenia, traveled on 4 continents. I finished my master’s in Environmental Studies in Madrid and I speak English, Spanish, Bulgarian and other Slavic languages. Since 2002, when I got involved in Save the Kresna Gorge campaign, I have been participating in many environmental campaigns – to protect forests and wetlands, coastal habitats and mountains, national parks and NATURA 2000 sites, local communities and indigenous people – and river protection has been one of my greatest passions. Riparian ecosystems are threatened and communities depending on rivers are suffering the consequences all around the world. As a volunteer, expert or project manager I have assisted environmental campaigns with different strategic actions – biodiversity fieldwork, scientific research, creation of alternative reports, financial activism, legal support, lobbying, public participation, direct actions, communication, creation of coalitions. Since 2016 I am totally committed to the values, vision and mission of CEE Bankwatch Network. Most of my work with Bankwatch has been as a biodiversity consultant but I also had very successful collaboration in media projects: for example in Nenskra and Amulsar visuals or We are Svaneti festival.
More from Andrey Ralev
Pouring millions from empty into the void
May 30, 2022 | Read more
EBRD and EIB investments in Bulgarian hydropower have once again been hit by scandal with the recent failure of the Chaira pumped storage plant and revelations about the illegality of small hydropower plants. The planned Yadenitsa dam would be more of the same: will the EBRD and EIB be wise enough to say no?
The river Bosna – a neglected gem of Bosnia and Herzegovina
March 22, 2022 | Read more
A new survey on fish and other aquatic animals confirms the river should be protected, not dammed.
European rivers on RED alert: the VEZ Svoghe case, Bulgaria
November 30, 2021 | Read more
A series of damaging hydropower plants on the Iskar river shows why the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED) needs to be tightened.
Projects financed by the EIB through secretive intermediary banks destroy 10 km of supposedly protected rivers for only 2 MW of energy.
The Blagoevgradska Bistritsa hydropower cascade was planned to use only the drinking water of the town of Blagoevgrad. Eight years later, it has used more than double the water allowed, leaving the river ‘even without frogs’. Our latest report shows the need for more scrutiny of EIB and EBRD lending through intermediary banks.
