Protesters in Vilnius demand halt to Neris riverbed maintenance works

Around 50 activists gathered outside Vilnius City Municipality on Friday to protest planned maintenance works on the Neris riverbed, LRT reports. Demonstrators held signs reading “Change your mindset, not the river”, “A river is not a ditch—stop deepening”, and “Vilnius needs more untouched nature” while chanting “Hands off the river” and “Stop destroying nature”.

The municipality states the works—scheduled between Vingis Park and Valakampiai—are routine maintenance, but protesters argue the river will be artificially deepened, disrupting its natural state. Activists called for abandoning plans they claim could alter the river’s ecosystem and demanded public consultation with independent environmental experts on the river’s role in the city.

Organised by the climate movement Fridays for Future and the Lithuanian Green Party, the protest highlighted concerns over habitat destruction, loss of fish spawning grounds, and broader ecological imbalance. Viltė Zaveckaitė, a 25-year-old climate activist, told BNS she was alarmed by the municipality’s approach amid worsening global environmental degradation. “Recently, nature is being destroyed at an accelerating pace, and climate threats are growing—so the need to protect what remains is more urgent than ever,” she said.

Critics also questioned the economic rationale behind maintaining navigation on the Neris. Marius Kučinskas, 32, called the project a “waste of money” that diverts funds from public transport, while 54-year-old scientist Giedrė Godienė asked why “three months of navigation” justified damaging Natura 2000 protected habitats.

Gabija Gorobecaitė-Jocienė, one of the organisers, noted a broader European trend: “Many countries are now renaturalising their rivers, realising the mistake of turning them into canals.” Ieva Budraitė, leader of the Lithuanian Green Party, accused the municipality of misleading the public by conflating “maintenance” with “deepening” for navigation. “Time and again, civil society only gets involved after the damage is done—after trees are cut, or nature is altered—when all that’s left is assigning blame and discussing compensation,” she said.

Vilnius City Administration Director Adomas Bužinskas denied plans for continuous deepening, stating only 12 silted sections would be cleared to ensure safe passage for boats. “We’re not deepening the entire bed—just removing sediment in 12 spots where ice jams and natural flow create blockages,” he told LRT, adding that an environmental impact assessment would determine potential risks. Bužinskas stressed the riverbed’s standard depth of 75 cm must be maintained for vessels to dock safely.