Ulrich Eichelmann has seen many rivers over his lifetime as the head of RiverWatch, an organization dedicated to protecting the world’s waterways. He’s spent time on the Tigris floating through Turkey and Iraq, on the Tagliamento in Italy, and traveled along the Danube as it winds across Europe. Yet none, he said, have measured up to the Vjosa River. From the Greek Pindus Mountains, its rushing headwaters flow 169 miles to Albania’s Mediterranean coast, calming as it finally nears the sea.
“The river is a bit like an intact living being,” Eichelmann said. “It starts young and fast in the mountains of Greece, and it ends as an old river near the Adriatic Sea.”
The Vjosa is dam-free, a rare feat in a world where the majority of rivers are confined by barriers. While hydropower dams may provide so-called “clean” energy, they also destroy ecosystems and emit methane. Fish can get trapped, unable to reach their spawning grounds, while nearby communities can be displaced. The Vjosa, however, remains one of Europe’s last free-flowing systems of water. The entire watershed is still untouched and is now likely to remain that way, thanks to a public-private coalition that created Europe’s first wild river national park in Albania — fighting dozens of planned dams along the way.
Outdoor apparel company Patagonia’s support was integral to the effort, providing both resources and advocacy that helped turn local activists’ bold vision into reality. In 2015, activists launched the Save the Blue Heart of Europe campaign to raise awareness about the environmental impacts of a Balkan hydropower boom. But the coalition needed international attention, and in 2018, Patagonia joined in, bringing much-needed funding and creativity that helped turn the campaign into a global cause.
Andrew Burr
Its quiet support is typical of Patagonia’s long history of environmental activism. But until now, the company has never attempted to measure its full impact — both successes and shortcomings. That’s about to change: Patagonia has just released its comprehensive “Work in Progress Report,” outlining the company’s improvements and challenges, and sharing a roadmap for others in the private sector. “Businesses created a lot of the environmental problems that we as humans are now navigating,” said Patagonia’s CEO, Ryan Gellert. “We’ve got an outsized responsibility to do something about it.”
Gellert recognizes the paradox of a company fighting for a healthier planet while also selling consumers products they may not need. “I can sit here and make an argument that we should grow as fast as we can so we have more money to give away,” he said. Conversely, as a producer of apparel that requires fossil fuels, he sees the argument that “the best we could do for the planet is shut down.” The truth, he said, lies somewhere in between. Spelling out these nuances — and how to prove business can be a positive force for change — is what the company hopes to tease out in its 134-page report.
Patagonia’s environmental activism began close to home in Ventura, California, where it awarded its first grant in 1973 to Friends of Ventura River, even offering the group office space at its nearby headquarters. “We’ve got a really long history on river protection,” Gellert noted. When plans to divert the nearby Ventura River threatened both its health and the surf break at its mouth, Patagonia employees began showing up at council meetings. The experience taught them that they could shape local conservation decisions — and that rivers knit together the entire ecosystem of a community. That led to the company’s 1985 “Earth Tax,” which set aside one percent of all sales for grassroots environmental groups — a model that later helped inspire the “1% for the Planet” movement.
Patagonia’s work has grown to include causes around the globe — from defending the Tarkine rainforest in Tasmania in 2018 to helping add five new marine protected areas to Korea in 2023. The company also encourages its own employees to volunteer and attend non-violent direct action training, as well as covering their bail. Though this approach alienates some customers, it has become a central part of the company’s ethos.
The company has expanded its grants program with the Holdfast Collective, a collection of nonprofit trusts that now own 98 percent of Patagonia. It uses every dollar received to protect nature and advocate for causes and candidates that put the planet first. Its goal is to distribute company profits to causes like saving the Vjosa, which it has contributed nearly $5 million dollars to since 2023.
After its European team raised alarm over the Vjosa’s future, the company helped produce two films, as well as financially supported the Save the Blue Heart campaign. They launched a petition that drew international attention, including from celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio. Simultaneously, the company decided to also give money to the Albanian government, allowing them to back grassroots advocacy while also helping shape policy decisions. The result of this symbiosis was the government’s 2023 announcement of the Vjosa Wild River National Park.
Nick St. Oegger
This victory, Gellert said, shows the power of Patagonia’s lead-from-behind ethos. He remembers the team’s first visit to the river almost 10 years ago. They spent their first night camping along the riverbank, before taking the next few days to raft the rapids and participate in a local protest. At the time, Gellert wasn’t confident they could save the river: Finding a way to engage with political leaders took patience and years of dialogue, particularly as Albania faced contested elections. Gellert met with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama in person several times to discuss the Vjosa’s future, serving as a mediator between local advocates and the government.
Engaging with communities along the Vjosa was also key to keeping dams away, explained Olsi Nika, executive director of EcoAlbania, a coalition member organization. The river is home to some 100,00 people, who rely on it for fishing, agriculture and cultural traditions, as well as over a thousand species. With Patagonia’s help, EcoAlbania brought together residents, artists, scientists, and lawyers to build a successful front against dam construction, resulting in Albania’s first-ever environmental lawsuit.
The courts ultimately ruled in its favor, blocking a dam and setting an important legal precedent. Nika — who, along with his collaborator Besjana Guri, won a Goldman Prize award for their advocacy for the river this year — said that victory opens the door for future lawsuits. “We are following dozens of open cases in the court to oppose the construction of hydropower.”
Patagonia’s role, which has since been formalized through a memorandum with the government, remains crucial. Two years after the Vjosa was designated a national park. pressures on the local water supply are mounting as developers race to build resorts and accommodations just outside its borders, said Besjana Guri, who recently left EcoAlbania to found a nonprofit focusing on empowering women and youth. “Now, we might have small threats,” Guri said, “but if they are not managed well and if the people are not totally aware, they can become big threats.”
Nick St. Oegger
The country has approved a 10-year plan to manage the park’s more than 31,000 acres, said Daniel Pirushi, who handles environmental policy and development for the Albanian Ministry of Tourism and Environment. Visitors will be strictly zoned to specific areas. Sensitive river sections will have limits on how many out-of-towners can arrive. The government is also working to improve wastewater systems for rural communities along the Vjosa Basin to address pollution.
In December, the government established a formal office to help with the park’s enforcement and environmental oversight. A visitor center is planned to feature local exhibitions and activities that would improve public awareness of how special the ecosystem is. “The establishment of a national park, especially one of this scale and complexity, cannot be achieved overnight,” Pirushi wrote in an email. “The protection of the Vjosa is not a symbolic act but a concrete, evolving process grounded in science, policy, and partnership.”
Working together, Patagonia has learned, is what makes these kinds of lasting environmental protections possible. After achieving a turning point for the Vjosa campaign, the company is looking to inspire other businesses, especially outdoor companies, whose work is closely tied to the Earth’s health. As Alison Huyett, a senior strategist at Patagonia who led the report, said, the goal is to show business audiences “activism doesn’t have to be scary.”
We’re in business to save our home planet. Founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973, Patagonia is an outdoor apparel company based in Ventura, California. As a certified B Corporation and a founding member of 1% for the Planet, the company is recognized internationally for its product quality and environmental activism, as well as its contributions of more than $230 million to environmental organizations. Its unique ownership structure reflects that Earth is its only shareholder: Profits not reinvested back into the business are paid as dividends to protect the planet.
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This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Business With a Backbone on Nov 12, 2025.
