Dear supporters,

When more than 8,000 people signed the "Hands Off the Soča" petition, it became clear that this was no longer simply the concern of one company or a small group of paddlers. It had become the voice of an international community that cares deeply about the future of one of Europe's most iconic whitewater rivers.

After launching the petition, we deliberately chose not to intensify the campaign. Instead, we spent many months focusing on local dialogue and hoping that practical improvements could be achieved through cooperation rather than legal action.

We genuinely hoped that this email would never have to be written.

Unfortunately, despite these efforts, the fundamental issues that motivated the petition remain largely unchanged.

Many paddlers continue to tell us that they feel the current system is increasingly difficult to understand, disproportionately restrictive and unfair towards independent kayakers.

Among the concerns most frequently raised are:

• river access fees that apply specifically to kayakers, while other visitors using the same public areas pay nothing;

• charges that are justified as payment for infrastructure, although many access points consist only of natural riverbanks, gravel roads or ordinary parking areas that do not require dedicated facilities for kayaking;

• administrative procedures that are unnecessarily complicated for a recreational outdoor activity;

• penalties that can exceed €1,000 for administrative mistakes;

• the continued closure of the Katarakt section despite its long history of use by experienced paddlers;

• navigation on the Srpenica to Trnovo section being limited to 18:00 during the summer months, even though daylight allows safe navigation well beyond that time.

We fully recognise that the Soča River requires responsible management and environmental protection.

This petition has never argued against reasonable regulation.

Instead, we believe there is an opportunity to create a system that is simpler, fairer and more widely accepted.

One possible solution that we believe deserves serious consideration would be to replace activity-based river access fees with a parking-based system.

Everyone using the area, regardless of whether they are kayaking, swimming, hiking or enjoying a picnic, would contribute equally through parking rather than charging only one category of visitors for accessing a public river.

Such a system could:

• remove discrimination between different users;

• simplify enforcement;

• maintain municipal revenue;

• improve public acceptance of the rules;

• better reflect the principle that public natural spaces should be accessible under equal conditions.

Over the last months we have also started exploring whether the current system could be reviewed through legal and administrative channels.

Our intention is not to eliminate regulation.

Our objective would be to seek a fair, transparent and proportionate framework that treats all river users equally while continuing to protect the Soča and its environment.

However, such a process would require specialist legal advice, detailed analysis of Slovenian and European legislation, collection of evidence, administrative procedures and, if appropriate, legal action.

This is a significant undertaking that cannot realistically be carried by one individual or one business alone.

For this reason, we are considering creating a transparent community-funded legal support fund dedicated exclusively to these purposes.

Before taking such an important step, we would genuinely like to know what the community thinks.

We would therefore be grateful if you could share your opinion.

In particular, we would appreciate your thoughts on the following:

• Do you believe that pursuing a new legal review is worthwhile?

• Would you consider supporting a transparent crowdfunding campaign dedicated exclusively to legal and administrative costs?

• Which aspects of the current system do you believe should be challenged first?

• Do you know lawyers, organisations, clubs or experts who may be willing to assist?

• Have you experienced similar situations in other countries that could provide useful examples?

If you would like to share your opinion, please write to:

alpinaction@libero.it

Every message will be read personally and considered carefully before any decision is made.

If the community believes that this initiative should move forward, it will not be the project of a single company.

It will be a community effort to promote a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory system for everyone who values the Soča River.

Thank you once again for your trust, your support and for helping keep this discussion alive.

Best regards,

Alpin Action

Initiator of the "Hands Off the Soča" petition