Vistula River Parade

Flags to support organization as the Polish activist group “River Sisters” to protect Poland’s river landscapes, particularly the Vistula.

The Vistula flows through Kraków, Sandomierz, Warsaw, and Toruń, emptying into the Baltic Sea. Known as Europe’s last wild river due to its largely unregulated riverbed, it faces threats from polluting industries and government actions. Activists are working to save the river from these harms. While Europe has made significant strides in addressing environmental issues, activists are increasingly frustrated, feeling that more collective, global action is necessary. In early March, two young female activists doused the landmark Warsaw Mermaid monument in orange paint to protest climate change and violations of women’s rights. In recent years, activists have even swum in the Vistula’s frigid eight-degree waters near a planned construction site in Siarzewo. The proposed dam there would severely impact Europe’s last major free-flowing river, destroying the continent’s largest wetland wilderness.