Restoring the Klamath: What we’re learning from the largest dam removal project in history

Restoring the Klamath: What we’re learning from the largest dam removal project in history

By: Bruce Shoemaker, Klamath Project Liaison After decades of controversy and campaigning by Indigenous and environmental groups, the largest dam removal project to date world-wide is moving forward in far-northern California and southern Oregon of the United States. Four large hydropower dams on the Klamath River are to be removed, restoring hundreds of miles of habitat…

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IN THE MEDIA | Our Cherished Rivers are Under Threat

IN THE MEDIA | Our Cherished Rivers are Under Threat

Permanent protections for free-flowing rivers need to be a centerpiece of every country’s national climate action plan. Chile can lead the way. Originally published on the New York Times, 12/29/2019 By: Macarena Soler, Monti Aguirre and Juan Pablo Orrego Macarena Soler is the founder of Geute Conservación Sur, Monti Aguirre is the Latin America program coordinator of International…

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Rivers are the world’s heritage. Time to treat them as such

Rivers are the world’s heritage. Time to treat them as such

By: Josh Klemm, Policy Director Originally posted on Mongabay This July represents a critical opportunity to protect rivers and the World Heritage sites that depend on them. Key government leaders will converge on Baku, Azerbaijan for the 43rd annual meeting of the World Heritage Committee this week. Established under the auspices of the United Nations…

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As Beijing Looks to Lead on Biodiversity, China-backed Hydropower Threatens to Wipe Out the Rarest Great Ape on Earth

As Beijing Looks to Lead on Biodiversity, China-backed Hydropower Threatens to Wipe Out the Rarest Great Ape on Earth

By: Sam Smith, Nathan Fritz Bank of China – financed Batang Toru dam threatens the Tapanuli Orangutan’s shrinking forest home In 2020, China will host the biannual meeting of the Assembly of the Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), a multilateral treaty that commits its signatories to developing strategies to conserve and sustainably use the…

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Troubled Waters: Mekong’s future remains uncertain as Thailand lights fuse on rapids-blasting project

Troubled Waters: Mekong’s future remains uncertain as Thailand lights fuse on rapids-blasting project

By: Pianporn Deetes, Thailand and Myanmar Campaigns Director This article originally appeared in The Nation. As a new year dawns, the waters of the Mekong River remain turbulent with uncertainty. While many take holidays and prepare for the new year, the people of the Mekong face an unknown future. Earlier this month, residents along the Mekong…

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PRESS RELEASE |   UNESCO World Heritage Committee inscribes Kenya’s Lake Turkana as “in danger” over Gibe Dam impacts

PRESS RELEASE | UNESCO World Heritage Committee inscribes Kenya’s Lake Turkana as “in danger” over Gibe Dam impacts

Today, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee took the decision to officially inscribe Lake Turkana as a World Heritage site “in danger” because of severe impacts caused by the Gibe 3 Dam, constructed upstream on Ethiopia’s Omo River. The dam and associated sugar plantations have severely restricted flows into Kenya’s Lake Turkana, the world’s largest desert lake. “We…

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Working Transboundary: Building Resilience and Democratizing Governance in the Brahmaputra Basin

Working Transboundary: Building Resilience and Democratizing Governance in the Brahmaputra Basin

The Brahmaputra River has repeatedly been the centre ground of diplomatic hostility between China, India and Bangladesh. With no transboundary treaty or common understanding between the countries sharing the river, downstream countries have repeatedly raised concerns that China, the upstream riparian country, would dam and divert the glacial meltwaters that are crucial not only for…

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The Most Endangered Turtle in the World

The Most Endangered Turtle in the World

By: Stephanie Jensen-Cormier, former China Program Director With only three known individuals still alive, the Yangtze giant softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) is the most endangered species of turtle in the world. R. swinhoei is also the largest species of freshwater turtle in the world; it’s been recorded to reach sizes of over 39 inches in…

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Help Us Protect the Puelo River in Patagonia

Help Us Protect the Puelo River in Patagonia

By: Sarah Bardeen, former Senior Communications Director The Puelo River needs your support! The Puelo, which originates in Argentina, is one of the largest rivers in Chilean Patagonia and a great tourist attraction. Divided up in two sub-basins, the Manso River and Puelo Lake, the Puelo is known for its outstanding beauty and untouched, pristine…

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The Race to Snapshot South American Rivers: River Guardian Nathan Lujan

The Race to Snapshot South American Rivers: River Guardian Nathan Lujan

By: Margaret Zhou, Partnerships Manager Nathan Lujan began his career studying South America’s ancient rivers. Now he’s racing against time to document the continent’s fish species before they’re lost. This is a special River Guardians feature for World Fish Migration Day 2016. A life exploring America’s rivers In 2005, fish biologist Dr. Nathan Lujan was leading…

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Zombie Dams: Five Projects That Just. Won’t. Die.

Zombie Dams: Five Projects That Just. Won’t. Die.

By: Sarah Bardeen zom·bie dam /ˈzämbē dam/ noun 1. A proposed dam project that activists successfully halt before it’s built, only to see it rise again and again – years later – in different forms. We’ve all seen classic zombie movies like “Night of the Living Dead.” If you haven’t, here’s a summary: A member of…

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