Dear International Rivers Community, The Board of Directors wishes to express our gratitude and appreciation to Isabella Winkler for her dedicated service and significant contributions as Co-Director of International Rivers. Over the past three years, Isabella has played a vital role in navigating the organization through challenging times and implementing substantial positive changes. Her strategic vision…
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 3, 2025 MEDIA CONTACTS: Siziwe Mota, Africa Program Director of International Rivers, smota@internationalrivers.org, +27 608351354 Emmanuel Musuyu, Executive Secretary, CORAP, emmamus023@gmail.com +243 81169 7699 WASHINGTON, DC – The World Bank today approved an initial $250 million in financing for the first phase of the Inga 3 hydropower project in the Democratic Republic…
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Free-flowing rivers operate as the arteries of our planet. They connect high mountains to lush, food-generating lakes, deltas, and coasts. Free-flowing rivers help regulate natural carbon cycles and influence weather patterns. They evoke a sense of awe and provide food, freshwater, medicinal herbs, transportation, economic security, recreation, and more. Indigenous communities regard them as sacred,…
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By Kate Fried Last fall, Indigenous communities in northern California noticed a surprising new development in the Klamath River: a sudden abundance of salmon. Less than a month earlier, the final remains of four large dams on the Klamath were removed, marking a triumphant victory for communities that, for decades, had fought to take them…
Read MoreMay 23, 2025 International Rivers stands in solidarity with communities in Upper Siang District in India’s Arunachal Pradesh as they peacefully protest the deployment of armed personnel in their villages. Members from the Central Armed Police Forces have descended on the area to enforce the government’s activities to prepare for the 12,500 MW mega-dam proposed…
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On the global front lines of climate justice, few stories resonate as powerfully as that of Mariluz Canaquiri Murayari. This year, the Peruvian Indigenous leader was awarded the prestigious 2025 Goldman Environmental Prize for her tireless work defending the Marañón River. A grandmother and leader of the Kukama people, Mariluz organized local women to launch…
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by Monti Aguirre, Latin America Director of International Rivers In a world reeling from crisis—climate upheaval, collapsing ecosystems, poisoned waters — there are still places and people who remind us what it means to belong to nature. Not conquer it, not dominate it, but live with it. The Marañón River, one of the great arteries…
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Peruvian Indigenous advocate receives the prestigious climate justice award for her groundbreaking campaign to secure legal rights for the Marañón River. San Francisco, Calif.–Today, the Goldman Environmental Prize announced its 2025 slate of winners, including Mariluz Canaquiri Murayari, a grandmother, community organizer, and Indigenous Kukama leader from the Peruvian Amazon. Mariluz led a groundbreaking campaign…
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Free-flowing rivers are integral to supporting life on Earth. They bolster biodiversity, regulate the climate, provide fresh water, and sustain cultural traditions. However, destructive extractive and infrastructure projects threaten rivers, altering their flow, starving plants and wildlife, degrading water quality, and imperiling the ways of life of countless riverine communities. On March 14, river defenders…
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How a battle over development on a California river helped inspire the founding of International Rivers and a global movement to amplify the voices of rivers and riverine communities. By Kate Fried Nearly 60 years ago, a self-described “awkward” teenager from Sacramento, California, named Mark Dubois, met the most powerful teacher of his life–the Stanislaus…
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Statement by Josh Klemm and Isabella Winkler, Co-Executive Directors, International Rivers “Last month, a jury in North Dakota delivered a devastating ruling against Greenpeace USA, deciding that the climate justice organization must pay Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, $660 million in one of the most high-profile defamation judgements in recent…
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