Built in the 17^th century on a vertical cliff face overlooking Montenegro’s Zeta River valley, Ostrog Monastery stands today as a symbol of the mystical connection between the region’s rivers and the communities that call their banks home. Not only is the monastery said to be the site of many miracle healings performed by patron Saint Basil, but it also sits at the edge of the Zeta Valley Nature Park: a newly protected area designated to heal this freshwater ecosystem and ensure that it continues to thrive for years to come.

Carving their way through the hills and valleys of the region, rivers have played a vital role in shaping the geography and history of mountainous Montenegro and the wider Western Balkans. However, these freshwater gems – some of Europe’s last free-flowing rivers – are increasingly at risk. Facing threats like pollution, habitat destruction, climate change, and unsustainable development, they are part of a worrying trend: since 1970, monitored populations of freshwater species around the world have declined by 83 percent and 30 percent of freshwater habitats have been lost.

Communities across borders united for rivers

On a recent trip to Montenegro, my wife Tracy and I met with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) team that is working with the government and other partners to help manage the new park in the Zeta Valley. The team’s efforts there, and in the permanent protection of the nearby Krupa River announced by the Croatian government in 2019, have since sparked a movement to protect 13 of the region’s most iconic rivers across five countries.

Under the moniker United for Rivers, TNC has teamed up with local conservation partners in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia to safeguard the ecological, social, and cultural values of freshwater ecosystems in the region by establishing new river protected areas. (Click here for a video about this work).

“At the heart of our initiative is the conviction that engaging and empowering local communities is critical for effective and durable river protection,” Dragana Mileusnić, TNC’s Southeast Europe Programme Director, explained as we made our way to the confluence of the Mrtvica and Morača rivers in the nearby municipality of Kolašin.

The rivers are two of the 13 that the coalition is working to protect, and Dragana knows that community leaders in Kolašin are central to that effort. She was greeted warmly when we arrived by Vasilije Ivanović, the vice president of the municipal government, and Zorica Milašinović, the director of Kolašin’s tourist organization.

Located in Montenegro’s mountainous north, Kolašin is home to the country’s biggest ski resort, but the local rivers offer the potential for sustainable tourism to the area year-round.

“Permanent protection for the Mrtvica and Morača is not only important for protecting the incredible biodiversity of this valley, but it also ensures reliable economic opportunity for the people who live here,” said Ivanović.

Making it last: the durable freshwater protection framework

The establishment of the nature park in Zeta valley was a crucial first step, but ensuring lasting protection for the ecosystem is an ongoing process. Tamara Brajović, a representative from Montenegro’s Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism, told us they still lack management structure and sustainable financing mechanisms to fund conservation actions and the necessary training for protected area managers.

Noting these challenges, TNC has developed a Durable Freshwater Protection framework and toolkit to enable practitioners across the system to set up effective freshwater protection initiatives. With a strong emphasis on stakeholder engagement, the framework helps guide practitioners to put the infrastructure in place for the protection to endure for a minimum of 25 years.

The framework is not only the basis for the United for Rivers initiative in Europe, but TNC has started to successfully deploy it in other regions as well. Tracy and I saw this firsthand six month ago in Ecuador, home to TNC’s first water fund. There, TNC has recently helped establish the creation of four new Water Protected Areas as well as the Nushiño-Curaray-Villano Fluvial Reserve.

Using the principles of the framework, the Ecuador team worked with 33 communities of the Waorani Indigenous Nation and 47 communities of the Kichwa Indigenous Nation of Pastaza to create the fluvial reserve through a process of free, prior, and informed consent. TNC is now working with Indigenous leaders to design a participatory management plan and to co-create a community-based monitoring system, a governance model led by the two Indigenous nations, and a financial scheme to improve well-being and reduce pressures on freshwater resources.

Meanwhile, back in Southeast Europe, Dragana and her team have their sights set on the next river where they hope to secure protected status by the end of the year: Croatia’s Mrežnica river, where TNC is working with public institution Natura Viva and Karlovac County to establish two protected areas. The partnership will establish the first community-led conservation financial mechanism in the country, to serve as a model for the rest of the region.

“This initiative gives me real hope for the future of this region,” Dragana reflects. “In 25 years, I believe we’ll be able to point to the work that began here as a turning point for the world’s freshwater ecosystems and the people who rely on them.”

Tracy and I look forward to returning to the region to see the progress made and the realized gains that will benefit both people and nature with clean water, healthy river ecosystems, and a collaborative framework for the world to learn from.