International Day of Action

Past Actions: Creativity, Celebration, and Courage

Something I love that was said to me when I first arrived at International Rivers was, “The Day of Action for Rivers will happen whether or not you’re ‘coordinating’ it.” I love this, because for a moment I can glimpse all the things being planned around the world right now…people getting together and talking, putting their energy into protecting the river-life networks around them. And I appreciate it because I am immediately reminded of the gravity that also accompanies this Day of Action for Rivers – people organize their actions because they have to continue standing up for the protection of rivers, their connected ecosystems, and people. It is an ongoing struggle.

My name is Katherine, I'm the 2012 Day of Action for Rivers coordinator and will be writing this blog for the next two months. The more I learn about the global events which have taken place over the last fourteen years on this symbolic day, the more amazed I am. There are so many courageous people out there working to protect their river ecosystems and communities from the harmful effects of dams and pollution. The Day of Action for Rivers is a time for people to represent and move forward with their struggles, and also celebrate the beauty and benefits of a local river - and all the world's rivers.

Costa Rica - National Forum Against Dams 2009

What is International River's role in this worldwide time of action for rivers? Our role is to find out what individuals and groups are doing in support of healthy rivers. We want to hear from those at the grassroots level and provide a stage for their voices, to connect people across the world fighting in their many ways for clean and free-flowing rivers, and to celebrate every individual's effort to speak out. As photos and stories come our way, we'll be sharing them here, in the hope that they spread around the world. A saying I recently heard from the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement (MST) is ringing in my ear: "Globalizar la lucha! Globalizar la esperanza! Globalize the struggle! Globalize the hope!"

My colleague Lori Pottinger recently published an inspiring piece in Al Jazeera entitled "Rivers must flow: The case against big dams." In the conclusion of her article, she reflects that "finding ways to become an advocate for a river near you in 2012 would be a good way to celebrate the new year!"

Lori's comment is the perfect call to action for the March 14 International Day of Action for Rivers, which is not just a day to celebrate the world's rivers, but also to celebrate the world's river advocates. This is the perfect opportunity for all of us to speak out and advocate for our rivers and watersheds.

This March 14, Keep Our Rivers Free

International Day of Action For Rivers Across Latin America

Protest at site of Hidrosogamoso on Colombia's Chicamocha River

A great variety of events took place in Latin America to celebrate the International Day of Action For Rivers, which is today the greatest global event demonstrating that rivers have friends and that we are going to defend them! Since the International Day of Action For Rivers was created in 1997, it has spread across the globe and Latin America is a great example of the "let's defend our rivers" domino effect.

In Colombia despite knowing that for protesting you can lose your life, a huge mobilization of indigenous peoples, peasants, fishing folks, students, workers, and environmental activists held actions throughout the country in defense of people's lands and rivers. More than 2,000 people defending the Magdalena River marched to protest El Quimbo Dam, and close to 4,000 people mobilized against the Pescadero-Ituango project on the Cauca River. Many peasants have already been killed because they refused to give way to this project and leave their lands, and yet resistance remains strong.

Nature Action Group took to the mountains (Nature Action Group)

 

International Day of Action for Rivers events made front page news around the world this week, here's just some of that headline news:

 

 

 

• Day of Action for Rivers Delights in Dalian, China

• The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Turkish River Activists

• Boats Float down the Papagayo River in protest of La Parota Dam

• Thousands of Fisherman Celebrate Life on the Xingu River in Brazil

• Baked Fish Repopulate the Elbe River in Czech Republic

• Activists Fight for the Last Free-Flowing Section of Teesta River in Sikkim, India

• The Future of Life, People and the Environment Explored through Powerful Photo Exhibit in Mozambique

Carpenter in front of his home, before and after it was demolished (Linda Butler, 2001 and 2003)

"Art goes around our neatly arranged arguments. Art allows us to see beauty, feel joy and anger. Art doesn't follow a party line, but punches us in the stomach when we least expect it."- Peter Bosshard, opening of Artists Respond to Three Gorges.

For the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest and most (in)famous dam, you could throw around some impressive facts and figures and everyone would shake their heads at them:

• 1.3 million people displaced and 13 cities, 140 towns and 1,350 villages submerged
• 12% of resettlement funds embezzled by corrupt officials
• Up to $88 billion spent to build the project and deal with the environmental aftermath
• A reservoir that could stretch from San Francisco to Los Angeles

While the list goes on, what moves the heart is not data. It's the stories and images of those most affected by the project and by the displacement and destruction it induced.

 

The call to action has gone out far and wide, whispers have spread from Mexico to Colombia, crossing oceans to reach Turkey, China and Iran, gaining strength and volume as they gain momentum.

With just over a week until the International Day of Action for Rivers we have already heard about 48 events taking place in 21 countries: Canada, Chile, China, Dominican Republic, India, Mexico, Namibia, Nigeria, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam, to name a few.

Day of Action For Rivers generating Oscar buzz

I am quite sure that had the Academy seen our Wild River Dance Videos in time for the Oscars last year, they would have given "Hurt Locker" a run for it's money as winner for Best Picture. Therefore it's high time that these wonderful videos from the 2010 Day of Action For Rivers were re-released for public enjoyment...and just in time for this year's Oscar season.

Spearheaded by our very own Web Producer Ian Elwood, the Wild River Dance contest saw many river-loving, dance-filled, inspiring videos. Although the competition is over, you can still post your own Wild River Dance videos in response. So when you watch these and immediately feel the need to go dance by your nearest river, please don't forget your video camera!

"The river showed no mercy. It swallowed the landscape in slow, heaving gulps. The surrounding fields had all but disappeared, digested over the course of the day in a pulpy mass."
- Excerpt from Li Miao Lovett's In the Lap of the Gods.

Artists Respond to Three Gorges: March 14, Berkeley CA

Built on the Yangtze River in China, the Three Gorges Dam is the world's largest hydropower project. No single dam has displaced as many people (1.2 million), nor flooded as many cities, towns and villages (13 cities, 140 towns, 1,350 villages). Although the dam has already been completed, its problems continue and while the above statistics are staggering, the human stories often get overlooked.

Artists around the world have focused their attention on these individual stories of displacement and used various artistic mediums to convey the feelings of anger, frustration, and hope.

Blues and greens swirl on the page and around a young girl who shares her love for her river. The river cools her in the summer, holds her up when she dives in, and takes takes care of her as she takes care of it. While rivers around the world are being threatened, polluted, and dammed, Maya Christina Gonzalez's book, I Know the River Loves Me, is a tribute to the relationship people, and especially children, continue to have with their rivers.