Environmentalists, anglers and scientists dressed as goldfish have joined hands to protest against plans to build large numbers of small-scale hydro-electric power stations in Polish rivers.

The protest is led by the Gaja Club, an environmentalist NGO based in southern Poland, which abounds in rivers and streams suitable for small water power systems.

Its president Jacek Bozek turned up in Warsaw today, dressed up as a goldfish, to hand a petition to environment minister Maciej Nowicki, pointing to the negative environmental impact of such stations, which hold back the natural flow of rivers and prevent fish migration.

The government is keen to press ahead with the hydro-electric schemes as it tries to meet climate change norms demanded by the EU.

Bozek says that such plants could be installed next to rivers and not in them. Gaja Club activists want the Polish government to pass a moratorium on the construction of small scale hydro power systems, as has been done in Sweden and Spain.

As an EU member, Poland has pledged to obtain 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources by the year 2020. Investors, encouraged by advantageous regulations and legal loopholes, have flooded local governments with applications for permits to build small scale water power plants. (kk)