One of Europe's last wild rivers is the Neretva in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Over the past millennia, it has developed into a globally unique ecosystem. It is home to animal and plant species that exist nowhere else. But the "blue heart of Europe,” as the Neretva is also known, is threatened with collapse.
Despite many objections, politicians and entrepreneurs are allowing hydroelectric power plants to be built on the river. They see it as an opportunity to generate sustainable energy — and big money. Local residents and scientists, on the other hand, have serious doubts about the projects. This is because the construction of a dam changes nature forever.
Boban Škrtar lives a few kilometers above the planned main dam in the village of Ulog. On the riverbank, he explains the devastating impact of the construction project to date: "Everything here used to be forest. It was cleared for the dam, and you can see that now everything is destroyed. There used to be a swimming area and a campsite there, but now everything is gone forever," he says.
On the other side of the dam, Austrian aquatic ecologist Kurt Pinter is searching for the softmouth trout—a fish thought to live in just four river systems, including the Neretva. His hope is that if the softmouth trout is found in this part of the river system, the area could be declared a national park. "However, if the dam goes into operation, the flow of the river will be severely impaired,” Pinter fears. The result: the extinction of the entire fish species. Where the Neretva flows today, there would be "nothing but desert,” he says.
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