European countries dismantled a record 542 dams, culverts, weirs and sluices that had been blocking rivers in 2024 — up 11 percent from the previous year — according to a new report from Dam Removal Europe.
Last year 23 countries in Europe removed a river barrier, and for four of them — Croatia, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Czech Republic — it was their first time doing so.
“European rivers have been fragmented by more than 1.2 million instream barriers, and more continue to be built,” the report said. “The significance of river connectivity and barrier removal has only recently been recognized at the European level, when the European Union’s Nature Restoration Regulation officially came into force on August 18, 2024, marking a significant milestone in Europe’s commitment to restoring degraded ecosystems.”
The regulation set legally binding targets for restoring nature, combating biodiversity loss and enhancing climate resilience.
“A key provision of the Regulation is the restoration of at least 25000 km of rivers to a free-flowing state by 2030, making it a game-changer for freshwater ecosystems and barrier removal efforts across Europe,” the report said.
Jelle de Jong, chief executive of WWF Netherlands, said the increase in barrier removals signaled a shift in governments and communities recognizing the benefits of restoring and reconnecting river systems.
“Healthy, free-flowing rivers are central to adapting to the climate crisis and boosting biodiversity, but Europe’s rivers are the most fragmented in the world,” De Jong said, as The Guardian reported. “We need to keep scaling up the removal of small obsolete dams that are blocking our rivers and set new records every year.”
Tens of thousands of the more than one million barriers to Europe’s waterways are believed to be obsolete. The report said culverts and weirs were more likely to be obsolete and comprised 90 percent of the dismantled barriers.
Ecologists have suggested that river barriers are a major cause of the 75 percent decrease in migratory freshwater fish populations on the continent since 1970.
Finland was the leader in barrier removals with a total of 138, followed by France with just ten fewer. Spain took away 96 river barriers, while Sweden dismantled 45 and the United Kingdom removed 28.
In Italy, five barriers were removed along a seven-mile stretch of the Giovenco River, marking the first time the waterway had been restored to its natural flow in decades.
“The reconnected river will now – once again – be able to support migratory fish and other species, while its natural dynamics will create healthier habitats for insects, birds and iconic species, like the otter, as well as reducing erosion and building resilience to floods,” a press release from Dam Removal Europe said.
Other rivers that will once again run wild thanks to the removals are Belgium’s Rulles and Anlier catchments, where 11 culverts were replaced with bridges in order to protect the endangered pearl mussel, and the Torne River in Finland and Sweden, where nearly 400 barriers are scheduled to be removed, restoring roughly 100 kilometers of waterways and more than 6,100 acres of wetlands.
“The project area is the entire watershed of the Torne River – approximately the size of Switzerland,” the report said. “Several species, like salmon, bullhead, otter, freshwater pearl mussel and green snaketail dragonfly will benefit from the measures. Negative impact will also be minimized by developing a Greener Best Practice for restoration projects.”
The researchers said the report’s figures likely underestimated the number of river barriers that were removed, due to a lack of centralized databases, reported The Guardian.
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