signed the Espoo Convention, which requires transnational consultation on projects that impact natural resources across borders. The Albanian government has declared that the river's flow towards Montenegro will not be affected. The same process of hydropower expansion is also planned for many of the free-flowing rivers of the Balkans including Morača, where the Cem debouches. In Montenegro, the river is ranked as one of the cleanest rivers in the country. As in Albania, before the 1990s, the part nearest to the border was heavily militarized and no activity was allowed in its vicinity. The municipality of Podgorica declared the river canyon a "natural monument" in 2017. Environmental organizations argue that despite their formal commitment to protect the river's basin, Montenegrin authorities have consistently allowed sewage pollution, gravel exploitation and unauthorized construction. In the lower part, beyond the canyon, industrialized agriculture and the Podgorica landfill have contributed to the deterioration of surrounding land quality. After the split of Tuzi from Podgorica, across which the Cem flows, the municipality of Tuzi voted in 2018 in favor of a resolution on the protection of the river. As a result of climate change inflow and outflow from the Cem steadily decreased during the 2010s. Economy Economic activities and development in settlements in Cem's basin are deeply affected by the ecosystem of the river. Communities along the river rely on agriculture, livestock and alpine forestry. Small-scale, sustainable trout farming has developed in recent years. In Albania, Kelmend was before the 1990s a key area of wood production. In Montenegro, soil fertility of the river basin has allowed viticulture to develop. Plantaže owns on the banks of Cem one of the largest vineyards in the region with around 11.5 million grapevines. Seasonal workers cross the border in the season of the year when farming and forestry require extra workforce. The collapse of the economies of the Eastern Bloc had a profound economic effect upon both countries. Many agricultural cooperatives shut down and public services deteriorated during the 1990s and 2000s. As a result, there is a heavy migration flow towards Italy, Greece and particularly the US, where a large community from Tuzi and Malësia lives in Detroit. In Kelmend, a slow and gradual reorganization of the economy happened in the 2000s and 2010s with an orientation towards ecologically sustainable development. Medicinal agriculture and alpine tourism were developed, which have become an important source of income for