Page 28 - EarthHeroes

The Balkans already has over 1,000 dams, built in the 1960s and 70s. Rok was able to see for himself the devastating impact of dams on people and the environment. On Mavrovo Lake reservoir near the Mavrovo Dam, Rok paddled through a half-submerged church that had once been at the centre of the drowned village. Near the Mratinje Dam, he learned that when local people there were forced to move, they had been paid only five dinars for each square metre of their land – the price at that time of a packet of cigarettes.
As they travelled, Rok spoke to fishermen who explained that fish numbers were dropping because fish such as the huchen, or Danube salmon, would normally swim up the river to spawn but now get stuck beneath the dam wall, where there is no gravel for the females to lay their eggs. They also learned about the threat to creatures like the rare Balkan lynx.
The kayakers explored inaccessible canyons, adventured on wild white water and travelled down rivers of breathtaking beauty. But they also saw ugliness and destruction. At a dam construction site they paddled past machinery and dredged riverbeds, while at one new dam the manager pressed a button on his smartphone to release water into a canyon so that the kayakers could paddle down it. It was an amazing place, but they knew that all life in the river had already been destroyed and that, when they left, the riverbed would be dry once more.
During their trip, Rok and his friends were joined by 500 kayakers and 1,500 activists from 18 countries. Some joined for days, some for weeks. They organised protests, bringing together villagers and scientists, fishermen and farmers. They always made time to hang out with new friends, play football with
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