Yesterday, International Rivers’ Southeast Asia Program Director Gary Lee joined partners at the NGO Forum on ADB press conference. The science and historical evidence is clear–if we want to tackle the climate and biodiversity crisis, increase resiliency and food security, and protect the rights of people, the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) energy policy must prohibit…
Read MoreElías Díaz Peña Echegure Tribute: Champion for People, the Pantanal, and the Paraguay and Paraná River Ecosystems
By Monti Aguirre, Dana Clark and Deborah Moore Last month we lost a river champion. We, at International Rivers, join the global river community in mourning the loss of activist, hydrologist, partner and friend Elías Díaz Peña Echeguren, who passed away in May at the age of 75. Known fondly as “Papo,” Elías was the…
Read MoreOpen Letter in Support of the Munduruku People in Jacareacanga, in the state of Pará
We, Indigenous leaders, representatives of civil society organizations, and members of the scientific community, express, through this letter, our repudiation of the attacks suffered by the Munduruku Indigenous women in Jacareacanga (southwestern Pará), on May 26 of this year. We also declare our full support for operations to combat illegal mineral exploration carried out inside…
Read MoreCoalizão para a Proteção Permanente dos Rios lança questionário para entender como as pessoas se relacionam com os rios de seus territórios
A Coalizão para a Proteção Permanente dos Rios, formada pela International Rivers e outras organizações do Brasil, está com questionário aberto para entender como as pessoas, movimentos sociais e ONGs identificam as ameaças aos rios, cuidam e se relacionam com os rios de seus territórios. Voltado principalmente para pessoas que já atuam ou têm desejo…
Read MoreInternational Rivers Condemns Illegal Miners’ Attacks on Munduruku Territory and Demands Immediate Protection for Indigenous People in Brazil
Building burns in the Munduruku village. Photo by Public Prosecutor’s Office of Pará State.
Read MoreOrganizations launch petition to save the Cuiabá River in Brazil
The coalition pressures Mato Grosso State environmental agency (SEMA) to suspend licensing to six new dams planned to be built on the Alto Paraguay basin. A coalition of Brazilian and international civil society organizations and social movements* has launched a petition to pressure the Mato Grosso State environmental agency (SEMA) against the approval of environmental…
Read MoreRivers Are Key to Restoring the World’s Biodiversity
By: Alessandra Korap Munduruku, Darryl Knudsen, Irikefe V. Dafe This article was originally featured on Independent Media Institute Biodiversity is plummeting, but restoring rivers could quickly reverse this disastrous trend. In October 2021, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will meet in China to adopt a new post-2020 global biodiversity framework to reverse biodiversity loss and its impacts on ecosystems,…
Read MorePress Release | Organizations warn OECD of Bolsonaro’s backsliding on human rights and environmental safeguards
NGOs criticize Brazil’s candidacy to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development while far-right administration dismantles socio-environmental policies Brasília, Brazil – Over sixty civil society organizations delivered a letter to OECD Secretary General-elect Mathias Cormann this Wednesday, raising concerns about Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro’s backsliding on human rights and environmental issues just as the…
Read MoreVoice of the River
A new short film tells the remarkable story of the man who risked his life to save a river he loved. One of International Rivers’ founder and river guardian extraordinaire: Mark Dubois. Would you risk your life to save a river? This man did. In 1979, Mark Dubois chained himself to a rock behind New…
Read MoreUnited for Restoration and a Just Recovery: How protecting biodiversity and advancing climate and economic justice is the recovery we need
This year, Earth Day and UN World Environment Day both focus on restoration, for good reason; 97% of Earth’s land area may no longer be ecologically intact. If we don’t urgently make recovery and investment choices that change course, our ecosystems, and humanity itself are on a path to collapse. We’re facing multiple crises: a global pandemic,…
Read MoreInternational Rivers Joins Call To Enforce Ruling That Protects The Dulcepamba River and Small Farmers in Ecuador
By Emily Conrad, Dulcepamba River, Ecuador On the western slope of the Andes in Ecuador, 140 campesino and indigenous communities have been resisting activities of the hydroelectric company, Hidrotambo S.A., since 2004. Complicit government agencies have allowed the company to monopolize the water in the ~500 square kilometer Dulcepamba River basin, decimate the River’s aquatic life, destroy private property, criminalize community leaders,…
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