Our Mission

Save Neris is an independent European research and public-interest initiative dedicated to studying, documenting and safeguarding the Viliya–Neris River — one of Europe's last largely free-flowing transboundary rivers. We believe that protecting a river begins with understanding how it is changing, why those changes occur, and what they reveal about the wider relationship between nature, society and public decision-making in contemporary Europe.

The Viliya–Neris is far more than a river. It is a living transboundary ecosystem shared by Belarus, Lithuania and the Baltic Sea basin; a Natura 2000 protected landscape; one of the last migration corridors for Wild Baltic Salmon; a source of climate resilience; and an essential ecological connection linking landscapes, species and communities across national borders. As water, wildlife and ecological processes move freely through the basin, the future of the river becomes inseparable from the future of the wider Baltic ecosystem.

Today the river stands at the intersection of three major transformations. It is simultaneously expected to function as a protected European ecosystem, as part of a river basin influenced by nuclear infrastructure, and as an emerging element of military mobility and civil protection planning. The convergence of these ecological, technological and geopolitical pressures creates one of the most complex environmental governance challenges currently facing a European river.

For us, the Viliya–Neris is more than a river in need of protection. It is a window into broader European transformations. By studying the changing role of one river, we seek to understand larger questions facing Europe today. How do democratic societies govern shared ecosystems during periods of geopolitical tension? How should environmental law respond when biodiversity, nuclear safety, infrastructure and security policies increasingly overlap? Can ecological resilience become a foundation for long-term security rather than its casualty?

Save Neris therefore combines two inseparable missions.

First, we document and analyse the ongoing transformation of the Viliya–Neris through scientific research, environmental monitoring, legal analysis, policy assessment, historical documentation and public participation. We aim to create the most comprehensive and publicly accessible body of knowledge about the river and the forces shaping its future.

Second, we use this knowledge to safeguard the river itself. Scientific evidence is not collected for its own sake. It supports better public decisions, strengthens democratic accountability, improves the implementation of European environmental law and contributes to practical measures that preserve the ecological integrity of the Viliya–Neris for future generations.

Knowledge, in our view, is one of the most powerful forms of environmental protection.

A central focus of our work is the Wild Baltic Salmon. The salmon is not simply the symbol of Save Neris. It is one of the last living biological indicators that the river continues to function as a healthy free-flowing ecosystem. Protecting its migration corridor means protecting the ecological processes upon which hundreds of other species—and ultimately people—depend.

Our work integrates multiple disciplines because no single field can explain the challenges facing the river today. We bring together ecology, hydrology, climate science, environmental law, public policy, economics, democratic governance and transboundary cooperation into one shared framework for understanding and protecting the Viliya–Neris.

Our activities include:

documenting environmental transformation throughout the Viliya–Neris basin;

protecting the ecological integrity of one of Europe's last free-flowing rivers;

safeguarding Natura 2000 habitats and European biodiversity;

conserving the migration corridor of Wild Baltic Salmon;

monitoring transboundary nuclear and environmental risks;

assessing the environmental implications of military mobility and infrastructure planning;

analysing European environmental legislation and international legal obligations;

evaluating the environmental governance of public investment and European funding;

promoting transparency, democratic participation and informed public debate;

supporting evidence-based policies that strengthen both environmental protection and long-term societal resilience.

Save Neris functions as an open European knowledge hub and observatory. It brings together scientific evidence, legal expertise, environmental monitoring, maps, historical records, policy analysis and local knowledge to document how a shared river is changing over time. By creating a long-term public record of these transformations, we seek to strengthen accountability while providing reliable knowledge for researchers, journalists, policymakers, environmental organisations and citizens.

Ultimately, Save Neris is not only about one river. It is about the future of Europe's shared natural heritage. The Viliya–Neris demonstrates how decisions taken today about nature, infrastructure, security and public governance will shape the resilience of societies for generations to come.

We envision a future in which the Viliya–Neris remains a living, free-flowing river—rich in biodiversity, resilient to climate change, connected across borders and protected as part of Europe's common natural heritage. We believe that healthy rivers strengthen healthy democracies, and that lasting security begins not by transforming nature into infrastructure, but by preserving living ecosystems that continue to sustain both people and peace.