Albania isn’t known for eco-tourism. Not usually. But look closer at this narrow slice of the Balkans and you’ll see slate-gray mountains, endless plains, and Ionian waters so clear they hurt your eyes. And the rivers? They glow with unnatural shades of green and blue.
Europe’s last wild river flows here. And someone wants to fence it in.
I’m standing in the shallows outside Përmet. Just outside it, really. My dad stood in similar water thirty years ago. Back in the 90s. He was an energy consultant. He wore a hard hat and a high-vis jacket. I’m wearing a hard hat too. I also have a rafting paddle.
My dad helped plan the dams that still power the country. It was survival then. Illegal logging was everywhere. Riverbed extraction was rampant. Environmental consequences could wait. They always can, right? Until they don’t.
Now thousands of Albanians have filled Tirana’s streets for six weeks straight. They aren’t going away. They are protesting the government. Specifically. They want the Vjosa-Narta landscape protected.
Why?
Jared Kushner. Ivanka Trump.
They want to build a luxury resort. On Sazan Island. On protected land.
### The Flamingo Revolution
In 2024 the law changed. Foreign investors can now build on protected zones if the project is “luxury tourism.” The loophole was small. The impact is huge.
Kushner’s project threatens the Vjosa delta near Vlorë. That’s where fencing has already gone up. It threatens the flamingos. Hundreds of them. They have become symbols. A whole movement revolves around them now—the “flamingo revolution.” It’s also home to the Egyptian vulture. Endangered. Rare.
This undermines the very concept of public land. In Albania. Or anywhere.
Albania was late to the damming party. The rest of Europe already mired their bluest rivers in concrete. Post-war booms turned Alpine waters into power plants. Switzerland built the tallest dams. France built the largest pumping capacity. Albania just wanted to keep the lights on. But the biodiversity loss there was faster. More violent.
“Studies showed floods would submerge the whole valley. Too expensive to build. Too wild to tame.” — Tini, a local rafting guide
That’s how the Vjosa survived. Accidentally. By accident. It’s the only major wild river left in Europe. No dams. No weirs. No concrete barriers.
Rewilding Europe
The rest of the continent is trying to fix what they broke. It costs millions. It takes time.
- Finland is draining ditches on the Jukajoki Project to let water flow freely again. Trout and brown bears are returning.
- Poland and Germany are re-flooding the Oder Delta. You can kayak there and see bison roaming.
- France has re-wilded 800 kilometers of river. Fifty different initiatives.
- In Scotland. Near home. They blew up the Garlogie Dam on River Dee. Atlantic salmon are coming back. Levern Water near Glasgow sees trout again.
It’s a trend. Algae spreading across a surface. Removing the scars of the last century.
Albania had this. It wasn’t looking for it. Prime Minister Edi Rama finally acted in 2023. He declared the river a national park. Europe’s first and only Wild River National Park. Logging is banned. Riverbed extraction stopped. Rangers patrol the lines.
Then came the resort news. The protests started.
### Paddle Hard, Live Local
We push off the shingle beach. The current grabs the raft immediately. It holds me. Harder than I hold the T-grip.
Tini shouts instructions. “Left! Forward!” We hit white water. It churns like a cauldron. Whoops erupt from the boat. We bounce over rocks. It feels like a log flume built by nature.
We slow down. The river sleeps a little. Tini points to the trees. Small plovers wade nearby. A heron stands tall. A flash of sapphire—kingfisher. High above something circles.
“They fly 8,000 km from South Africa. They lay eggs. Then they leave. Nature is coming back.”
I squint against the sun. It’s one of four monitored pairs of Egyptian vultures in the park. Decades ago they weren’t here. Now they return. Every year.
We jump in. Life jackets inflate. We float. Lazy. Let the current pull us. Bird sounds rustle in the leaves above.
We paddle out. Arms ache. It’s a good kind of pain.
Aftermath
The Langarica joins the Vjosa near Përmet. Hot water meets cold. Sulphur smell hits first. Like rotten eggs but cleaner. Benjë Thermal Baths. Old. Stone. Ottoman ruins.
Just a small cabin for changing. Three baths cut into rock. Water heated by the earth itself. Said to heal things. Maybe. It helps with blisters from the raft paddle. That I know.
Sitting in water that’s been running since the 17th century makes you think. Who owns this place?
Locals run small rafting firms. They run guesthouses run by families. No chains here. Cornbread soaked in sheep’s milk cheese. Lamb on a spit. Real food. Real hospitality.
Tourists can’t stop the government from granting permits to US billionaires. We have no power there. But we have our wallets. Our time.
Support Përmet. Stay in local rooms. Eat where they want you to eat. Protect the habitat. Let the vultures fly.
It helps if the trip includes floating on a wild river or soaking in hot springs. It makes it easier to argue for them. But that’s not the point.
The river keeps flowing. The fence goes up. The protests continue.
