Act now to protect a transboundary Natura 2000 river corridor and one of the last functional Wild Baltic Salmon migration routes in the Baltic basin.
Petition demands
- Permanently halt all river-engineering, dredging and navigation-related works on the Neris, especially within Natura 2000 sites
- Establish full international oversight and transparency at the Astravets nuclear facility, including an Independent International Expert Group to safeguard the Wild Baltic Salmon migration corridor
- Permanently prohibit the siting of any radioactive-waste storage or disposal facilities within the Wilija–Neris river basin
Why is this important?
The Vilija–Neris is one of the last largely intact river ecosystems in the Baltic region — a vital migration corridor for Wild Baltic Salmon and a lifeline for protected Natura 2000 habitats. Yet this living river is increasingly exposed to overlapping nuclear, ecological, and infrastructural risks.
The Astravets nuclear plant uses the river system for cooling and process water. At the same time, the Astravets district is being prioritised as a potential site for deep radioactive-waste disposal within the same catchment. Any contamination would move downstream into Lithuania and the Baltic Sea — one of the most environmentally stressed seas on Earth. 1
In parallel, plans in Lithuania would convert the Neris into heavy-duty transport infrastructure, including proposals for dredging and river-engineering works — even within Natura 2000 areas. Such interventions would destroy spawning grounds, damage river morphology, and sever one of the last functioning salmon migration routes in the Baltic basin. 2
This is not a domestic matter. It is a transboundary risk affecting ecosystems, biodiversity, communities, and the Baltic Sea as a whole. A living river must not be sacrificed to nuclear hazards or military-driven ecological destruction. 3 4
Recipients
This petition is formally addressed to:
– The European Commission
– Directorate-General for Environment
– Directorate-General for Energy
– Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations
Copies of this petition are sent to:
– European Parliament — Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI)
– Espoo Convention Implementation Committee
– Bern Convention Standing Committee
– HELCOM — Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission
– UNESCO
– Governments of Lithuania and Belarus
