International Rivers Sitewide RSS Feed

Amazon Tribes Fight to Keep the Xingu Alive

Glenn Switkes — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:32:11 -0700

For five days in May, hundreds of tribal people from the far reaches of the Amazon Basin came together to protest plans for huge dams on the Xingu River, the largest tributary of the Amazon.

Damming for Development: Lessons from Laos

Shannon Lawrence — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:15:08 -0700

Opinion piece published by Reuters AlertNet

The Great Carbon Offset Swindle: International Rivers Report Deconstructs the Scam

Tim Kingston — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:15:24 -0700

Nam Theun 2 Dam: Rising Water, Falling Expectations

Shannon Lawrence — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:20:26 -0700

Opinion piece published in Thailand's The Nation

Águas Turvas: Alertas sobre as Conseqüências de Barrar o Maior Afluente do Amazonas

Glenn Switkes — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:55:33 -0700

Muddy Waters: Impacts of Damming the Amazon's Principal Tributary

Glenn Switkes — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:50:35 -0700

"Muddy Waters" Executive Summary

Glenn Switkes — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:48:54 -0700

Muddy Waters: Impacts of Damming the Amazon's Principal Tributary

Organized by Glenn Switkes
Edited by Patricia Bonilha

Dams Built Around the World by Chinese Institutions

Nicole Brewer — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:14:07 -0700

Damming Nigeria's Wetlands People: Communities Work Together to Restore Lives And Livelihoods

Berklee Lowrey-Evans — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:30:41 -0700

June 2008 World Rivers Review: Legacy Issue

In Nigeria, floodplains and wetlands are rich sources of livelihood for millions of people. These wetlands communities have been losing ground for many years, however. Nigeria's most important wetlands, the Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands, have shrunk by as much as two-thirds in the past 30-40 years because of diversions from dams, irrigation developments and drought. Fisheries, farming and wildlife are all impacted by these hydrological changes.

Lessons Learned on Chixoy

Berklee Lowrey-Evans — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:10:51 -0700

June 2008 World Rivers Review: Legacy Issue

An interview with Elizabeth Bevington, a member of a team of 20 pro-bono lawyers with Holland & Knight, LLP (H&K), which advises COCAHICH on the Chixoy negotiations.

Involvement of a well-respected neutral facilitator is key. We began the process with a government agency in charge of human rights as the organizer and moderator of the meetings. That process did not work well, and we recommended involving a neutral party. After some due diligence, Roberto Menendez of the Organization of American States (OAS) was identified as a potential mediator and all parties accepted. This change marked the beginning of the real advances in the process.

Let It Flow: Lessons from Lesotho

Berklee Lowrey-Evans — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:03:10 -0700

June 2008 World Rivers Review: Legacy Issue

The majority of the world's major rivers have been dammed, leaving a legacy of environmental and social harms that has truly changed the planet. But managing dams in ways that mimic natural river flows can help offset the worst damages.

The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), which transfers water from the mountain highlands of Lesotho to South Africa, is one of the world's largest water-resource developments. In addition to affecting tens of thousands of people living in the reservoir area, the project has, to one degree or another, impacted some 150,000 people living downstream of the dams.

Interview: Basilwizi Trust, Zimbabwe

Berklee Lowrey-Evans — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:54:19 -0700

June 2008 World Rivers Review: Legacy Issue

Fifty years ago, Tonga communities were forced to give up their traditional homeland during construction of Kariba Dam. Unforgiving terrain combined with the country's devolving political and economic situation have left the Zimbabwean Tonga facing greater challenges than their Zambian relatives, whose community well-being deteriorated following an inadequate resettlement. Starting in 2000, the Tonga-led Basilwizi Trust in Zimbabwe began helping rewrite the future of its people. International Rivers' Africa campaigner Terri Hathaway caught up with Boniface Mutale, Director of Basilwizi Trust. Born shortly after his family's resettlement, Mutale is leading one of the strongest efforts to combat the effects of displacement which continue to batter new generations of Tonga.

On Trust, Justice and Restoring Dignity: The Long Path for Reparations in Guatemala

Berklee Lowrey-Evans — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:48:43 -0700

June 2008 World Rivers Review: Legacy Issue

"History does not allow injustices to vanish just because we are unable to address them." Colombian author William Ospina

The fight for justice made by the communities affected by the Chixoy Dam in Guatemala has been going on for more than two decades. Their story is stupefying. At the time the dam was being built, horrendous persecution and even massacres of people in the dam region took place at the hands of the dictatorship. The indigenous Maya-Achí communities that lived on lands adjacent to the Chixoy (Negro) River where the dam was being built did not escape the hatred of the brutal regime. People lost the river, their land, fruit trees, animals, sacred sites, their dignity and, too many, their lives. Close to 6,000 people suffered ill effects from the dam, and at least 400 were murdered.

The survivors' resilience is admirable and humbling. For many years communities have organized, sought out national and international allies, protested, wrote letters, and met officials of the Guatemalan government, and project financiers at the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Community leaders sought remedy for wrongs doing committed against their loved ones as the dam was being planned, built and put into operation.

High Stakes for the Next Wave of Dams

Berklee Lowrey-Evans — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:27:17 -0700

June 2008 World Rivers Review: Legacy Issue

Our world is full of serious problems, from escalating violence and war to global food and water shortages to increasingly deadly natural disasters. With so many urgent issues, why should we care about the legacies of large dam development?

Addressing the Legacy: Special issue of World Rivers Review - June 2008

Colin Carpenter — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:11:43 -0700

World Rivers Review, Vol. 23, No. 2

Flooding the Nam Theun 2 Reservoir

Colin Carpenter — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:42:19 -0700

A Lao man, his face and hands hardened by the sun and years of fishing, tends his water buffalo by the Theun River and wonders what his life will be like "after the flood". That's how he refers to the water that has started

New Hydropower Dam for Burma’s Military Capital to Displace Thousands

Carl Middleton — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:28:26 -0700

Over 3,500 people, including many ethnic Kayan, will be displaced by a new dam being built in the Pyinmana Hills that will boost power to Burma's military leaders.

Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project: Risky Business For Laos

Riam Firouz — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 15:39:46 -0700

International Rivers' briefing paper describing the Nam Theun 2 project, its unsettled questions and broken promises, at the time of reservoir filling.

Esplorando il Pascua - Parte II

Berklee Lowrey-Evans — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:17:51 -0700

Parte I

Il giorno seguente abbiamo attraversato tutti il Quiroz. A metà strada un elicottero giallo ci si è avvicinato lentamente e ci ha sorpassato in una direzione, ha girato intorno e ci ha sorvolato nell’altra. Non gli abbiamo prestato molta attenzione. Eravamo troppo occupati a divertirci guidando la cabina della funivia – anche se eravamo bagnati dall vita in giù, visto che la funivia si abbassava e la cabina imbarcava acqua per la maggior parte del viaggio.

magellanic coigue and guaiteca cipres (Gary Hughes)

Dopo esserci cambiati, ci siamo inotrati nel territorio più strano della nostra spedizione, una zona paludosa chiamata maillin. Fortunatamente il tempo era stato asciutto e il maillin era calpestabile – almeno un po’. Sembrava solido finchè non ci mettevi un piede. In quel momento realizzavi che era un sottile tappeto di muschio e altra vegetazione che galleggiava nell’acqua. A intervalli regolari c’erano isole di amareno e larice. Inizialmente abbiamo tracciato una linea diretta per queste tre isole, pensando che quegli alberi crescessero su un terreno solido. Invece ci siamo trovati di fronte alla foresta più bizzarra che avessimo mai visto, con piccoli e antichi alberi – alcuni simili a bonsai - che crescevano su cumuli di torba circondati dall’acqua. Alla fine, siamo riusciti ad attraversare il maillin solo camminando intorno a queste piccole foreste galleggianti!

Esplorando il Pascua - Part I

Berklee Lowrey-Evans — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:59:53 -0700

The Birthplace of the Pascua (Gary Hughes)

Il fiume Pascua, nella Patagonia cilena, è uno dei più ancestrali corsi d’acqua del pianeta. Perché? Prima di tutto perché è molto difficile raggiungerlo. Poi perché una volta visto il fiume si rimane per forza di cose a bocca aperta e con le mani pigiate sulle proprie orecchie a causa dei canyon spettacolari disegnati dal Pascua e dall’incessante rumore provocato dalle sue acque impetuose. International Rivers vuole che il mondo conosca il fiume Pascua ma che questo rimanga nello stato in cui è adesso, a differenza delle grandi compagnie che sul suo corso vogliono mettere su una serie di dighe. Il gruppo cileno Matte e l’Endesa, ora controllata dall’italiana Enel, intendono costruire ben tre mega-sbarramenti sul Pascua, con il fine di trasportare l’energia prodotta a verso Santiago, 1.500 più a nord. Con il grande aiuto dei nostri amici cileni, abbiamo iniziato a lottare contro la realizzazione del progetto. Per fare ciò abbiamo organizzato una missione sul campo per renderci conto di quail saranno gli impatti causati dalle dighe.

Di seguito potete leggere un resoconto dettagliato delle informazioni che abbiamo raccolto durante la missione, ma prima vogliamo fare una lista sommaria di quelli che saranno gli effetti del progetto sull’ambiente che abbiamo visitato.

Patagonia

Berklee Lowrey-Evans — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:39:25 -0700

¡Tome acción para proteger los ríos de la Patagonia! (en inglés)
read more

Sabbatical

Peter Bosshard — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:37:11 -0700

In ancient Israel, among other places, farmers conserved the fertility of their soils by letting their fields lay fallow every seventh year. Even the Bible mandates that "you may plant your land for six years and gather its crops. But during the seventh year, you must leave it alone and withdraw from it." Thus the concept of the Sabbath year was born.

International Rivers' Comments on European WCD Rules for Carbon Trading

Ann Kathrin Schneider — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:28:19 -0700

Hydropower credits that enter the European Carbon Trading System need to demonstrate that they come from projects that comply with the World Commission on Dams recommendations, according to EU law. The European Commission is currently drafting guidelines for EU member states on how to do a WCD assessment for hydropower projects.

In May 2008, the European Commission has shared a draft paper and a draft WCD compliance report with some stakeholders, including International Rivers, and requested comments. Please find below a link to International Rivers' comments on the draft paper and the draft WCD compliance report. For a copy of the draft paper and compliance report, please contact the European Commission, DG Environment, Emissions Trading.

Critique of the Xiaoxi World Commission on Dams Compliance Report

Ann Kathrin Schneider — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:55:44 -0700

The following assessment by International Rivers compares the compliance report for the Xiaoxi project to the Strategic Priorities of the WCD, as well as the German Emissions Trading Authority Guideline for Determination of Compliance with the recommendations of the WCD. We begin with background on the report. We then provide a summary of our main observations and a detailed critique of the report. We end with conclusions and recommendations.

No. 90, June 9, 2008

Elizabeth Brink — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:20:25 -0700

Produced by: River Revival, International Rivers
E-mail: riverrevival [at] internationalrivers [dot] org
Editors: Elizabeth Brink and Wil Dvorak

CANADA

Relief coming for Tsolum River

US-GENERAL

International Rivers Sitewide RSS Feed

Amazon Tribes Fight to Keep the Xingu Alive

Damming for Development: Lessons from Laos

The Great Carbon Offset Swindle: International Rivers Report Deconstructs the Scam

Nam Theun 2 Dam: Rising Water, Falling Expectations

Águas Turvas: Alertas sobre as Conseqüências de Barrar o Maior Afluente do Amazonas

Muddy Waters: Impacts of Damming the Amazon's Principal Tributary

"Muddy Waters" Executive Summary

Muddy Waters: Impacts of Damming the Amazon's Principal Tributary

Dams Built Around the World by Chinese Institutions

Damming Nigeria's Wetlands People: Communities Work Together to Restore Lives And Livelihoods

Lessons Learned on Chixoy

Let It Flow: Lessons from Lesotho

Interview: Basilwizi Trust, Zimbabwe

On Trust, Justice and Restoring Dignity: The Long Path for Reparations in Guatemala

High Stakes for the Next Wave of Dams

Addressing the Legacy: Special issue of World Rivers Review - June 2008

World Rivers Review, Vol. 23, No. 2

Flooding the Nam Theun 2 Reservoir

New Hydropower Dam for Burma’s Military Capital to Displace Thousands

Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project: Risky Business For Laos

Esplorando il Pascua - Parte II

Esplorando il Pascua - Part I

Patagonia

¡Tome acción para proteger los ríos de la Patagonia! (en inglés)read more

Sabbatical

International Rivers' Comments on European WCD Rules for Carbon Trading

Critique of the Xiaoxi World Commission on Dams Compliance Report

No. 90, June 9, 2008

TABLE OF CONTENTS

¡Tome acción para proteger los ríos de la Patagonia! (en inglés)
read more