by Sherelee Odayar, Senior Programme Officer, Standing with Communities, Natural Justice The Process of developing the Biocultural Community Protocol of the OvaHerero of the Kaokoland in Namibia and Angola For centuries, Indigenous peoples have depended on the natural environment to sustain their livelihoods. Knowledge of plants and animals, as well as the performance of certain…
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – June 12, 2024 Karipetua Uarije, representative of the OvaHerero Biocultural Community Protocol Custodian Committee, kuarije@yahoo.com Natasha Prince, Natural Justice, natasha@naturaljustice.org Siziwe Mota, International Rivers, smota@internationalrivers.org Opuwo, Namibia – The first written Biocultural Community Protocol (BCP) of the OvaHerero peoples of the Kaokoland in Namibia and Angola, capturing their history, cultural practices, and traditions,…
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On March 14th, people all over the world gathered to protect and celebrate rivers for the 27th annual International Day of Action for Rivers. This year, we recorded over 110 events in more than 40 countries with thousands of people celebrating their rivers, and uniting against dams, water diversions and pollution in multiple ways. You…
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Français below English, French and Portuguese versions of the guide can be found in the Safeguards and Standards section of the Capacity Building Tool Resources page. Development projects such as dams, roads, power plants, and mines can displace communities and damage the land and rivers that they need for their livelihoods. Over the past decades,…
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By: Josh Klemm, Co-Executive Director of International Rivers Earlier this month, I had the chance to attend the fourth annual Finance in Common (FIC) Summit in Cartagena, Colombia. A relatively new phenomenon, the Summit brought together over 500 public development banks from all over the world who together represent tens of billions of dollars in…
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Three thousand miles apart, Nirmala’s and Violet’s experience led them both to the same calling: to protect the rivers in their communities. Growing up on a farm in rural Kenya without electricity, Violet Matiru developed a love of nature and the drive to fight its degradation early on. She began her environmental work with elephant…
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After conducting an extensive study, Colombian Constitutional Court ruled to protect the fundamental rights of Anchichayá Dam affected communties Final judgment will be released no later than September 2023. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 21, 2023 MEDIA CONTACTS: Silvano Caicedo, President of la Organizacion Etnico-territorial ONUIRA silvanocaicedo1966@outlook.es (Spanish) Benjamin Mosquera, Consejo Comunitario Mayor of the Anchicayá River, bmr1173@gmail.com (Spanish)…
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By Bonnie Barclay, Global Communications Manager for International Rivers On March 14th for the 26th annual International Day of Action for Rivers, people all over the world gathered to protect and celebrate rivers. The International Day of Action Against Dams and For Rivers, Water and Life was adopted by the participants of the first international…
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Two decades of indigenous peoples working to keep the Salween River free-flowing By Pai Deetes, Thailand and Myanmar Campaigns Director of International Rivers Originally published in the Bangkok Post On a sandy beach by the Salween River on the Thai-Myanmar border in March 2006, boats carrying Karen villagers and other ethnic groups such as Karenni,…
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By Ayesha DSouza, South Asia Program Coordinator. Mega Hydropower projects continue to be pushed in the fragile Indian Himalayas, often at the cost of the local communities and disguised as the only solution to local issues of development. One such place is Dzongu, the land of the Lepcha community in North Sikkim. Already home to…
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Powered by Canadian, Ecuadorian, Spanish and Swiss investors, the São José del Tambo dam (Hidrotambo S.A.) is considered a rudimentary and dangerously built hydro project and has been threatening the lives and livelihoods of over 140 communities along Dulcepamba River. On February 1st, an appeals hearing will be held in the Provincial Court of Tungurahua…
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