🚨 Save the Soča – Stop the persecution of kayakers in the Soča Valley!

The Intermunicipal Administration of the Soča Valley has now updated its regulations – and the result is even worse than we feared.

To paddle the popular Srpenica–Trnovo section, you now need two separate permits:

Bovec Municipality: €3 per person/day
Kobarid Municipality: €12.50 per person/day
That’s €15.50 per person, per day – without providing any extra services or infrastructure.

Even worse, the municipality has banned the most beautiful and famous section of the river – the “Katarakt”, a world-class stretch that has attracted kayakers from across the globe for decades.

On top of that, the “sheriffs” of mayor Marko Matajurc are constantly searching for kayakers to fine them for even the smallest oversight – with outrageous penalties of €400 per person.

If these rules go ahead, it will be an economic disaster for the Soča Valley:

Fewer visitors in campsites, apartments, and restaurants
Lost jobs for local residents
Villages like Trnovo ob Soči risk losing essential services such as food stores and bars, which are currently sustained by kayaking-related tourism
The official excuse is “too much river traffic”, but after 30+ years in this business, we know the truth: private kayakers come mainly in spring and autumn, not in the overcrowded summer months when the real chaos happens.

This is also blatant discrimination:
If I go to the river with my kayak, using the same roads and parking spaces as everyone else, I must pay €15.50. But if I go to the river to swim, it’s free.

The true responsibility for this disaster lies with mayor Marko Matajurc and the municipality of Kobarid.

They tried this once before, in 2019. We stopped it then – and we must stop it now.

📢 Take Action Now

Comment on their Facebook pages:

Bovec​

Kobarid

Tolmin​

Mayor of Kobarid Matajurc Marko

Email the mayor of Kobarid: zupan@kobarid.si or obcina@kobarid.si
This law is already in force – the time to speak out is now.

#SaveSoca #NoToKayakTax #Kobarid