The "Nobel Prize for the Environment" is won for the first time by two Albanian activists

For the first time in its 36-year history, the Goldman Prize, also known as the "Environmental Nobel", has been won by two activists from Albania.

Besjana Guri and Olsi Nika from the organization Eco Albania were recognized for their efforts to protect the Vjosa River from the massive construction of hydroelectric power plants – to the point of its declaration by the government as a 'National Park of a Wild River'.

A late-night phone call from the Goldman Sachs headquarters in San Francisco surprised Besjana and Olsi this early April. An international jury had selected them from among thousands of activists from around the world to be honored with the highest environmental award. Thanks to their persistence, the government granted the Vjosa and its tributaries the status of a “National Park,” ensuring that the river continues its 170-kilometer journey uninterrupted within Albanian territory.

"11 years ago I could not have imagined the scale that the Vjosa campaign would take. We were just a group of dreamers who had a clear and uncompromising vision: to see Vjosa a National Park," activist Olsi Nika tells DW.

“We started the campaign as a small team of just three people,” recalls 37-year-old activist Besjana Guri, “but today, Vjosa has thousands, even millions of friends around the world.”

It was 2014 when Olsi and Besjana founded the organization EcoAlbania, with the aim of protecting Albania’s ecosystems and natural habitats. That same year, they joined the “Save the Blue Heart of Europe” campaign, initiated by partner organizations RiverWatch and EuroNatur, which aimed to protect the Balkan rivers from the threat of massive hydropower plants.

While Olsi, a biologist by profession, coordinated the efforts of scientists, local communities, activists and NGOs, Besjana, a graduate in social sciences, brought the team's work to the attention of the public and the media. "There was very little talk about the environment, about the damage that hydropower plants were causing to river ecosystems. People saw it as something good, so just being heard in the community and the wider public was a big challenge," Besjana recalls.

On the Vjosa River, one of the last wild rivers in Europe, 45 hydroelectric power plants were planned to be built. This would have catastrophic consequences for the river’s habitat, endangering a unique biodiversity of 1,175 plant and animal species. “But as long as no dams were built and put into operation, we could keep the dream of the National Park alive,” says Olsi, the 39-year-old activist.

The Vjosa River – a model for Europe and the world

Scientists, lawyers, MEPs and well-known public figures including actor Leonardo DiCaprio gave their support to the idea of ​​creating a Wild River National Park.

In November 2021, Besjana and Olsi decided to invite the company “Patagonia”, a supporter of the campaign, to negotiate with the Albanian government. Its role as a mediator ensured that the protection of the Vjosa did not remain only on paper. In March 2023, in Tepelena Castle, the agreement to declare the Vjosa River a National Park was signed.

"The Vjosa National Park is a new model that Albania is giving to Europe but also to the world on how to protect nature and especially freshwater ecosystems, which are critically endangered," says biologist Nika.

It is precisely its uniqueness that makes the Vjosa Park a challenge in management. According to activist Nika, this will also be the next objective for activists. “The implementation of the management plan is about establishing structures, increasing human capacities, improving the legal framework or how the activities that affect it should operate” – says Olsi, further emphasizing that “this is a process that takes time, and perhaps more time than it took to declare the National Park”.

Meanwhile, for Besjana, another challenge continues to be the Shushica River, a tributary of the Vjosa River, whose flow is planned to be diverted in the service of mass tourism. “We won the Vjosa once when it was declared a National Park, now we have to win Shushica,” says the activist.

Planet in danger – initiatives that give hope

The Goldman Prize for the Environment is awarded annually to local activists from six continents who are taking extraordinary initiatives to help their communities. “It’s been a difficult year, both for people and for the planet,” says Jennifer Goldman Wallis, vice president of the Goldman Foundation. “There are so many things that worry us, stress us, anger us, and divide us. But for me, these environmental leaders and teachers — and the international community that supports them — are the solution.”

In addition to the activists from Albania, the other winners of the 2025 Goldman Prize are Semia Gharbi from Tunisia, Batmunkh Luvsandash from Mongolia, Carlos Mallo Molina, an activist from the Canary Islands, Laurene Allen from the United States and Mari Luz Canaquiri Murayari from Peru. This environmental prize was established in 1989 by the late San Francisco philanthropists Richard and Rhoda Goldman. Over the course of 36 years, the Goldman Prize has honored 233 activists from 98 different countries./ DW