Congratulations to the Brave Women of Kruscica and Ms. Bilal in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) on winning a prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for a relentless fight to save their river from small hydro, in the face of an armed police attack, intimidation and legal threats.
This big win comes on the heels of a global activist campaign to ban new small hydropower plants in BiH. Unfortunately, these wins are not enough to save some 240 of the last free flowing rivers in Europe from going into concrete pipes. It is now crucial for the Federation of BiH (FBiH) government to adopt the pending Law on Electrical Power to permanently ban construction of hundreds of planned small hydro projects, and revise all the active permits, many issued illegally.
The global conservation community is urging the FBiH House of Peoples headed by Tomislav Martinović to take action now, present the draft law to the delegates, and preserve the precious Bosnian rivers.
