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, inextricably linked to the spiritual realm. But their fates hang in the balance, largely due to human activity. These days, only one-third of the world’s rivers remain free-flowing. Less than 10% of global river basins are protected.
Two key trends undermine free-flowing rivers: large-scale dams and climate change. Globally, construction of large dams fell from a late-1970s peak of about 1,500 a year to around 50 a year in 2020. Once seen as a promising renewable resource, hydropower is increasingly understood to lead to a range of human rights violations, including forcible dispossession of communities to make way for the dam reservoir and associated infrastructure, while wreaking havoc on river ecosystems.
For 40 years, International Rivers has worked alongside movements worldwide, taking a stand against destructive hydropower, keeping rivers free-flowing, and asserting the rights of those whose livelihoods depend upon riversheds. As the global climate crisis has escalated into a full-blown emergency, and international finance institutions eye new investments in mega-dams, standing in solidarity with riparian communities in defending their rights to livelihood, water, land, and self-determination remains critical.
Regulating the climate and aiding biodiversity
Rivers that flow freely are more capable of mitigating and adapting to the effects of climate change than dammed rivers. At the same time, river basins and freshwater systems are experiencing the pressures of a changing climate. Glacial and snow melts that once flowed mightily now meet their rivers as mere trickles, reducing their rivers’ volume. Monsoons are becoming more intense. Flood pulses and life-giving flows that underpin nutrient cycles and keep sediments moving are becoming less predictable. Seasons that were once predictably wet now experience dry spells.
As climate change undermines natural carbon cycles, rivers do their part by transporting decaying organic material from land to sea, where it settles on the ocean floor. This draws an estimated 200 million tons of carbon out of the air each year, helping to clean our air. But as climate change accelerates, and new mega-dams continue being built, rivers are losing the ability to mitigate atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Although rivers cover a small fraction of the Earth’s surface–0.8 percent–almost 10 percent of global species call freshwater their home. As rivers stagnate, less oxygen circulates within them, undermining all riparian life. A 2020 study by the World Wildlife Fund found that populations of global freshwater species have declined by 84 percent, “equivalent to 4 percent per year since 1970.” Less oxygen in rivers undermines their health, creating more dead zones and suffocating fish and native plants.
Supporting Food Security
Healthy, free-flowing rivers support food security, a critical function undermined by climate change and large-scale dams. A 2025 study by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment found that rivers are the backbone of global food production, supporting aquaculture, farming, animal husbandry, and more. Riparian plants provide fibers and medicines that billions of people rely on daily. According to the research by the World Wildlife Fund, around 25% of the world’s food comes from cropland irrigated by river water, and more than 40% of global fish consumption relies on rivers, including one-third of the global fish catch and more than two-thirds of fish from aquaculture.
Africa’s largest wetlands, Mali’s Inner Niger Delta hosts millions of migratory birds, and serves as a lifeline for more than one million people who depend on it for pastureland, flood recession, agriculture, and fishing. The Delta is sustained by the beneficial annual flooding of the Niger River that inundates up to 30,000 km2. Its future is threatened by plans to construct the Fomi Dam near the river’s source in neighboring Guinea. The dam would undermine rice cultivation, fish stocks, and livestock grazing. At least 10 percent of Mali’s population, mostly marginalized communities, will suffer.
Reinforcing Cultural Traditions
Throughout history, flowing rivers have inspired and informed numerous folktales, parables, and songs. In Sikkim, the Indigenous Lepcha tell numerous tales about the rivers and their tributaries that flow through their ancestral lands. They tell the story of two lovers, Rangeet and Rongnue, who meet and form the confluence of the Teesta River. The Lepchas worship nature and believe their land is a blessing from their ancestors. They believe that when a Lepcha passes away, their soul travels upstream on the Rongyoung River, a sacred tributary of the Teesta – and rests in the caves as per their clan at the base of the holy Mount Kanchenjunga. Communities have been fighting the proposed 280 MW Panam hydroelectric power project on the Rongyoung for two decades, and Lepchas went on hunger strike when the project was poised to advance.
In neighboring Pakistan, the Indus Delta is drying up due to upstream dams and diversions by India and Pakistan. The Indus Delta is a rich biodiversity site and the home of syncretic deities like Jhulelal, believed to be the God of the Indus. Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs all worship at the shrine of Jhulelal on the banks of the Indus, transcending international borders, disputes, and religious prejudices. The flowing river symbolizes unity and peace and has sparked an impassioned movement for its protection.
Protecting Free-Flowing Rivers
When we lose a free-flowing river, we lose so much more–a critical food source, clean water, climate regulation, our connection to the Earth, cultural and spiritual values, and more. Worldwide, support for river protection is gaining momentum. The Whanganui River, the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers, the Atrato River, the Marañón River, the Magpie River, the Klamath River, and rivers of Bangladesh have all been granted legal rights. Dam decommissioning efforts are also picking up speed. In 2024, the Klamath River ran free for the first time in a century when the last coffer dams were broken, returning the Klamath to its natural path. Meanwhile, this year, the Goldman Environmental Prize recognized three river defenders, including International Rivers ally Mariluz Canaquiri, for their efforts.
As the movement to protect rivers gains speed, and rivers get the protections they and their communities need and deserve, International Rivers will continue to support the brave river defenders who risk their lives and livelihoods to protect and give voice to our rivers worldwide.
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