Publications

World Rivers Review

River ecosystems are in trouble, which means we’re all in trouble. This special issue of World Rivers Review focuses on biodiversity and rivers. The cover story by a team of diverse scientists lay out the global scope of the crisis affecting rivers. Interviews with prominent scientists describe what’s at stake, and what’s being done to conserve our rich heritage. It’s an informative package that we hope will help raise awareness and understanding, and spur action.

Congo's Energy Divide

Rather than improve its citizens' access to electricity, the Congo's government plans to provide electricity from the rehabilitated power grid and new dam projects for mining and exports to South Africa and other countries. The rehabilitation's slow pace, ballooning costs and emphasis on energy exports raise serious concerns that it will only perpetuate Congo's great energy divide.

Brazil Eyes the Peruvian Amazon

The Peruvian Amazon is a treasure trove of biodiversity. Its aquatic ecosystems sustain bountiful fisheries, diverse wildlife, and the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people. White-water rivers flowing from the Andes provide nutrients to the Amazon mainstream. But this naturally wealthy landscape faces an ominous threat.

Protecting Rivers and Rights: The World Commission on Dams Recommendations in Action

The most comprehensive guidelines for large dams that protect the rights of river-dependent communities were outlined by the World Commission on Dams (WCD) in 2000. This briefing kit explores six broad principles covered by the WCD, which encompass basic values of human rights and sustainable development that are essential to minimizing the negative impacts of large dams. It also provides concrete examples of where and how they have been applied, and what happened when they were ignored.

China's Three Gorges Dam: A Model of the Past

The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River is the world's largest and most controversial hydropower project. The 660 kilometer-long reservoir displaced 1.3 million people and is wreaking havoc on the environment. The reservoir reached its final height in 2009, but many of its impacts are only now becoming apparent. China will deal with the project's legacy for generation.

Belo Monte Fact Sheet

The Brazilian government is planning to build what would be the world's third largest hydroelectric project on one of the Amazon's major tributaries, the Xingu. Belo Monte would divert the flow of the Xingu River and devastate an extensive area of the Brazilian rainforest, displacing over 20,000 people and threatening the survival of indigenous peoples.