[sprak]

This is a nice goal. Will it be the first i Europe? No, Sweden has four such protected rivers: https://sv.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sveriges_national%C3%A4lvar

I'm sure many other countries have such rivers as well

[medo-bear]

Yes, nice goal but the claim is exaggerated. In neighboring Serbia there is the Tara National Park [0], and nearby to this, but in Bosnia & Herzegovina, there is the famous Sutjeska National Park [1], which is one of the two last remaining primeval forests in Europe. That said, significant threats are still posed by potential exploitation of areas and rivers surrounding protected zones [2].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_(mountain)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutjeska_National_Park

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buk_Bijela_Hydroelectric_Power...

[grujicd]

Tara the river is in Montenegro, not to be confused with Tara the mountain which is in Serbia.

[medo-bear]

Thank you for that. I actually did confuse the two! The Tara river [0] and the Tara Canyon [1] are absolutely amazing! To add to the confusion all the mentioned national parks are very close to eachother

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_(river)

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_River_Canyon

[dagw]

None of those rivers are national parks though (although some I believe might run through a national parks). National parks have even stricter requirements and restrictions.

[sprak]

Albania is roughly the size of Maryland and Sweden is slightly bigger than California. So one protected river in Albania would be very good news.