World Heritage Under Threat

Children swimming in the Changuinola River in La Amistad

Hugo Sanchez and Marcio Bonilla, Asociación ANAI

More than 900 of the world's most amazing natural and manmade wonders on earth have been declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. From the Great Wall of China to Stonehenge, the Great Barrier Reef to the Grand Canyon, these are places of "outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humanity," according to UNESCO. They are, in a word, irreplaceable.

Over a dozen of these Sites are now threatened by large dams. Free-flowing rivers lie at the core of these Sites, acting as both biological corridors and sustenance for indigenous communities downstream. Dam construction can also lead to road building, land conversion and development, pollution and possibly poaching by relocated communities.

Local people are leading the way in opposing many of these ill-conceived projects. Indigenous communities in Panama have worked to stop dams that would affect La Amistad Reserve. Turkana activists have kept international financial institutions from backing the Gibe 3 Dam. Groups in Northeast India recently succeeded in turning back a shipment of turbines for the Lower Subansiri project. China's growing river-protection movement was spawned by the plans to dam the Nu River.

Coalition to protect our World Heritage

In 2011, International Rivers and our partners called on the World Heritage Committee to document the risks these dams pose, add these sites to its List of World Heritage in Danger, and raise awareness among member states of the global dam threat to our world heritage. The result was a number of key decisions for the protection of some of the most threatened sites.

This year, the World Heritage Committee meets June 24 - July 6 in St. Petersburg, Russia. We will call for greater protections to the growing list of dam-threatened sites. In addition, we will host a World Heritage Rivers photo contest featuring photos by our partners. If you have any photos of World Heritage Sites that are under threat from dam building, please share them with us by following the instructions under More Information.

Do you know of a threat to a World Heritage Site? If so, download the IUCN consultation form and follow the instructions for sending it to IUCN.