Aoos: a unique free-flowing river

Contributing to the feature on Aoos river by the magazine “Elliniko Panorama”, Ioli Christopoulou, Policy Director, The Green Tank, Alexandra Pappa, Freshwater Programme Manager, MedINA and Tonia Galani, Programme Coordinator, Pindos Environmental, present in a joint article the existing protection regime of the river and explain why it is necessary to extend it up to the Greek-Albanian border.

Pointing out the Albanian government’s initiative to establish the Vjosa National Park covering the entire river within Albania and several of its free-flowing tributaries, attention is drawn to the part of the river that remains unprotected in Greece, putting in danger the ecological, cultural and geological value of the region. As the article highlights, in a positive development, the Greek State seems to recognise the need to extend the protection regime of the river, paving the way for its full inclusion in the Northern Pindos National Park and the creation of the first Transboundary Free – Wild / Natural River Park.

The article titled “Aoos: a unique free flowing river” was published in the Greek magazine “Elliniko Panorama”, no 135, on June 2023.

The Organizations MedINA and Pindos Perivallontiki and the think tank The Green Tank represent in Greece the international campaign “Saving Europe’s last free-flowing wild river”, in close partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).