Save Polesia 
Polish NGOs have submitted a complaint to the European Commission pointing out that huge, old dams on Polish rivers have never been studied for their impact on people and nature. This violates EU law. What is the issue? NGOs, ClientEarth Lawyers for the Earth, Save Polesia partner OTOP (BirdLife Poland) and Greenmind Foundation, have filed … Read more
On the 1st of May, Polish musician and activist Michał Zygmunt finished his 1,300 km expedition in a traditional wooden boat. The main patron of the boat trip across Poland was OTOP – BirdLife Poland, one of the Save Polesia partners. The cruise is a promotion of rivers, conscious learning and discovering their values and character, says … Read more
An ironic “birthday-party” with a dam-cake was held in Warsaw opposite the Ministry of Climate and Environment on 14th March 2023, the International day of action for rivers. The Polish “Save the Rivers” Coalition gathered people to protest against the construction of Siarzewo dam on the Vistula river. The partygoers demanded immediate consideration of NGO … Read more
A draft report on the EU Transport Roadmap suggests that unsustainable projects will not receive EU funding. However, certain loopholes in the strategy need to first be closed to avoid devastating environmental impacts by proposed transport projects in the EU. Last week, on the 10th of October 2022, a draft report on the Trans-European Transport … Read more
Save Polesia Partnership’s stark warning: abandon E40 waterway megaproject or vital wetlands, grasslands, forests, and mires across Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine face catastrophe. A controversial megaproject that aims to connect the Baltic and Black seas via a 2000km-long navigable shipping channel through Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine – known as the E40 inland waterway – would be … Read more
On the 29th of July 2022, Ukraine terminated its bilateral agreement with Belarus on inland navigation. Is this the end of the potentially devastating E40 waterway project? The idea of the E40 waterway was developed by Polish, Belarusian and Ukrainian governments. It aims to link the Baltic Sea and Black Sea through a 2,000 km-long … Read more
A new economic analysis reveals that the planned E40 waterway would operate at a severe economic loss in the long-term, even under optimistic scenarios. Published on World Wetlands Day, the economic analysis by the Netherlands-based consultancy Langhout Ecologisch Advies lays bare severe implications from the construction of the E40 waterway. The planned megaproject would … Read more
An article published in The Guardian today, highlights the devastating impacts of this planned dam on the Vistula river in Poland. The Polish government is moving forward despite warnings from scientists, non-governmental organizations and society as a whole. Poland wants to build a new dam on the country’s largest river next to the village of … Read more
The European Commission recently released their proposal for Europe’s roadmap for future transport. The so-called trans-European transport network (TEN-T) policy doesn’t include the planned E40 waterway route, recognizing its high costs and environmental impacts. Instead, the focus is on multimodality, high-speed rail and climate-proof projects. The TEN-T Regulation aims to build an effective, EU-wide and … Read more
This autumn, Polish poet and runner Małgorzata Lebda successfully completed a 1,000 kilometer-long run – 26 marathons – along the Vistula to draw attention to the state of the river and the threats it faces. Starting the run along the river’s headwaters in the mountains close to the border with the Czech Republic, she finished … Read more