Ruud Streefkerk

This summer we visited the banks of the Vindel River near the village of Blattnicksele in Lapland for the second time. Due to the continuing drought, the washed-out roots of the trees on the banks of the river were completely dry this time, whereas in 2015 the roots still stood in the water. The Vindel is one of Europe's few undisturbed and unpolluted rivers with an enormous diversity of fish. When the large-scale plans for energy generation by means of this river in the 1960’s would have been carried out, a nearby village would have disappeared in a 38 meters deep reservoir. But thanks to a huge wave of protests, the project was finally canceled. Nowadays the Vindel river is even appointed as one of the four national rivers of Sweden.