The Small Hydroelectric Project that began to be built in the area Nature 2000 of North Pindos National Park it is illegal under Greek and European legislation and threatens important species, complain the Hellenic Ornithological Society, Arktouros, Kallisto and four more ecological organizations.
The implementation of the project in the “Yotsa” stream of Mount Smolika (which was declared an Unfathomable Mountaino) was canceled in 2021 after the efforts of organizations, but received the green light with the release of a changing Decision on the Approval of Environmental Conditions (AEPO) of the Decentralized Administration of the Western Macedonian Continent, the organizations report.
“The work is carried out within the Northern Pindos National Park and the Special Protection Zone / Special Conservation Zone (Nature 2000 area) with code GR2130002 ‘Tops of Mount Smolika'” complains the letter, which is co-signed by the Prespa Protection. Society and the Bouluki, Pindos organizations Environmental and Medina.
The project violates “EU and national legislation, which explicitly designates mapped areas with priority habitat types as exclusion zones for the installation of small hydroelectric projects.”
The already started works have “already destroyed” part of the forest with endemic black pines, which belongs to a priority habitat.
As the organizations indicate, the construction of the project was preceded by a series of negative opinions from the North Pindos National Park Management Agency, OFYPEKA and the Ioannina Forest Board.
The work has already caused ecological damage, say the organizations (©D. Papageorgiou / Medina)
In the area where the dam is built, important species live such as:
- The Ionian trout (Salmon farioides), for which the legal “National Action Plan (NAP) for native trout species in Greece” is valid from 2021.
- The otter (Otter otter), whose presence was confirmed both upstream and downstream of the MYHE construction area.
- The Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) and the white-tailed deer (Neophron percnopterus), species classified as “Endangered” and “Endangered” respectively, based on the Red List of Endangered Species of Greece.
- The brown bear (Ursus arctos), a priority species (Annex II of Community Directive 92/43/EC), with its conservation status assessed as “Unsatisfactory improvement (U1+)”.
In addition, in the area where the project is implemented, the European project LIFE ARCPROM is being implemented in parallel to improve the conditions for the coexistence of brown bears and people.
Dam on the Aoos too
In addition, the organizations complain that the construction of a dam in the catchment area of the Aoos river, of last free-flowing river in Europe.
And this despite “the resounding message of the Ministry of Environment and Energy against the fragmentation and degradation of river ecosystems, with the pivotal decision to prohibit the installation of Small Hydroelectric plants and barriers in the Protected Landscape and Protected Natural Formation of Sarantaporos.
The organizations request that the works be stopped until the ministry checks the license of the project and that the Decentralized Administration of Epirus cancels the amendment of the environmental permit and the installation permit.