Macedonia's mountains are slowly losing their waterfalls - and with them, something that's hard to bring back. Behind the disappearance of natural gems like the Smolari, the Koleshino, and the waterfall on Korab stands a combination of small hydropower plants, climate change, and illegal logging, which together reveal the true price of a quiet ecocide.

The small hydropower plants are perhaps the biggest culprit. Even though they produce barely four percent of the country's electricity, they divert mountain water through huge pipes and leave riverbeds nearly dry. The result is destroyed biodiversity and a permanently altered look to the mountains. In 2022, seven harmful concessions for such plants were revoked in the Šar Mountain National Park - but the problem stays alive elsewhere.

Natural and human factors compound this. Less snow in winters and longer droughts directly hit seasonal waterfalls like the Korab one, which depends on snowmelt. Illegal logging on Šar and Jakupica destroys the soil's ability to retain moisture, so water runs off faster, slopes erode, and rivers turn muddy and unstable. On top of all this comes tourism - viral social-media posts bring an uncontrolled influx of visitors who leave plastic and trash behind.

And who answers for it? According to the State Audit Office and the European Commission, the problem lies in „dysfunctional state control bodies" and in an inefficient system of inspections and fines. The adoption of European environmental directives has been postponed for years, while the mountains quietly empty of water. A waterfall doesn't protest, doesn't vote, and doesn't issue statements - it just dries up. And once it falls silent, no later concession will bring back the sound of falling water.