Covid-19 Impacts in the Amazon and Patagonia: Crisis to Opportunities Series

Covid-19 Impacts in the Amazon and Patagonia: Crisis to Opportunities Series

By: Monti Aguirre, Latin America Program Director (with Brent Milliken, Latin American Program Director) The global COVID-19 crisis has shed a light on the deep-seated inequities in the way our rivers and the people who depend on them are treated. With the exposure created by this crisis comes an opportunity. As International Rivers adapts to current…

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Belo Sun signals a restart, but controversial gold mining project in the Amazon remains suspended by three court decisions

Belo Sun signals a restart, but controversial gold mining project in the Amazon remains suspended by three court decisions

BY: Movimento Xingu Vivo para Sempre On April 24th, the Canadian mining company Belo Sun released a corporate statement on its website claiming that it “successfully completed” the indigenous component of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for its controversial Volta Grande project, a massive open-pit gold mining operation proposed for installation along the Xingu River in the Brazilian…

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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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Women’s Voices Reign at First-Ever Women & Rivers Congress

Women’s Voices Reign at First-Ever Women & Rivers Congress

By: Pai Deeetes, Thailand and Myanmar Campaigns Director One word stood out on the screen, above all others: Stories. It was the answer to a question posed on Day 1 of the first-ever Women & Rivers Congress, and it appeared above the crowd thanks to an interactive, real-time voting app. The question: What was your…

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An urgent call to protect Brazil’s human rights and environmental defenders

An urgent call to protect Brazil’s human rights and environmental defenders

By: Brent Millikan, Latin America Program Director In response to the brutal assassination of Dilma Ferreira Silva, a leader of Brazil’s Movement of Dam-Affected Peoples (MAB) in the area impacted by the notorious Tucuruí hydroelectric dam, a joint statement drafted by International Rivers and AIDA, and co-signed by over 100 human rights and environmental organizations from 25 countries,…

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Women’s rights and river protection

Women’s rights and river protection

By: Maureen Harris, Programs Director This article was originally featured on Asia Times Usually at this time of year during the dry season in northern Thailand, the Mekong River recedes, and sand and pebble beaches appear. Covering the pebbles, through the clear and shallow water, one can see the pale green kai, a river weed of…

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IN THE NEWS | Women must be central to Mekong dam decisions

IN THE NEWS | Women must be central to Mekong dam decisions

By: Maureen Harris, Programs Director Originally published on Bangkok Post Today, on International Women’s Day, a recent trip to the Mekong Basin serves as a reminder that women’s voices must be central to decision-making on hydropower, and in broader energy planning for Thailand and the region. The Nam Ou River, a longest tributary of the…

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Goal 4 – Secure Human Rights for River Communities and Water Protectors

Goal 4 – Secure Human Rights for River Communities and Water Protectors

By: Sarah Bardeen, Former Communications Director In recent years, the silencing, disappearance and assassination of environmental and indigenous defenders has become tragically common.  Perhaps the most high-profile case involves Berta Caceres, our friend and partner who was gunned down in her own home in Honduras for her opposition to the Agua Zarca Dam on the…

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The Women of Inga: A Portrait of Resilience

The Women of Inga: A Portrait of Resilience

“Go and tell them that we, the women of Inga, are suffering” By: Ange Asanzi, former Africa Program Associate One thing is for certain: the women of Inga are self-sufficient. They grow avocados, oranges, bananas, cassava, nuts and beans. They harvest medicinal plants to tend to their sick. Nearly everything they consume comes from their…

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