Albanian environmentalists are blocking a torrent of dams

THE SILOS at the building site at Kalivac once held concrete for what was to have been a big hydroelectric plant. Now they echo with the squawks of the many birds that have taken up residence on them. Cement-mixers and earth-movers still stand ready to roll. But a court ruling in late May may keep them stationary for ever. The plaintiffs in the case included ecologists who have been battling against the plant for years. They are trying to prevent new dams from being built along the Vjosa, Albania’s second-longest river.The Vjosa is still flowing freely, but Albania’s increasingly influential green activists are not cracking open the champagne yet. “We have won some legal battles, but we have not won the war,” says Besjana Guri, of EcoAlbania. In Kalivac the steep hills that fall down to the river have been scarred by terracing for the dam. The original concession was granted in 1997. Tens of millions of euros have been spent on preparatory works.