The Fish and the dam that brought it to extinction

Gezhouba Dam

Last year we placed these two pictures on the back cover of the Heritage Dammed report to UNESCO to illustrate the role of dams in mass extinction of freshwater biodiversity. We suggested that scientists will wait for 50 year before declaring the paddlefish extinct. We were wrong, by 49.5 years. Here is the article by Lily Katzman of Smithsonian Magazine:

China’s Yangtze River, the world’s third longest river, is home to 378 known species of fish. But the Chinese paddlefish, …

In July 2019 AIIB President promised to RwB “to be very cautious with hydropower”, it does not show in the Draft Water Sector Strategy

On December 10, 2019 eighteen civil society organizations from 12 countries of Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas submitted to the AIIB initial comments with a hope to start meaningful consultations on key environmental and social issues specific to river basin management and water infrastructure development. Full text below.

Submission to Consultations on the AIIB “Draft Water Sector Strategy”.

Introduction: Expectations

Ever since discovering that the AIIB intends to
develop a …

Conference Proceedings Download here

On October 8-9, 2019, the International Association of River Keepers “Eco-TIRAS” in partnership with the Institute of Zoology and in collaboration with the Faculty of Natural Geography of the Pridnestrovian State University named after TG Shevchenko organized a conference with international participation “The Impact of Hydropower on River Ecosystems”.

Conference Agenda download here.

Recommendations adopted by the Conference:

The conference
was attended by 120 scientists, practitioners and students from Pridnestrovie,
the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Ukraine, Sweden and the Russian Federation.
The reports presented at the conference examined various aspects …

On July 24 a web-journal towardfreedom.org published an article by Lital Khaikin “Between Sacred Waters and Natural Capital: Resistance to Hydroelectric Dams in Mongolia” 

Egiin Gol – still a free-flowing river

In recent years, Mongolia has sought
to expand its construction of hydroelectric dams in the northern provinces,
where large watersheds connect Mongolia to the Buryat’ Republic in Siberia.
Since the introduction of Mongolia’s Action Plan for Implementation of the
Green Development Policy for the period of 2016–2030, the country has
identified the river-systems in the northern provinces of …

Lake Baikal – the Largest Hydropower Reservoir on Earth

The RwB and World Heritage Watch presents the final complete version of the “Heritage Dammed” Report, dedicated to protection of natural freshwater ecosystems. This colorful report contains contributions from 30 civil society organizations (CSOs), experts and dam-affected communities around the world.

The Report documents how water infrastructure plays key role in degrading aquatic ecosystems at more than 50 World Heritage properties, of which 42 sites are threatened by hydropower.  Fourteen in-depth case studies illustrate and analyze the global threat to the rivers, …

It is always soothing to republish articles which reflect wider acceptance of your own views.  This is the case with a piece by  Wang Jiamei of the Global Times published on April 24 2019

Photo: chilren crossing a bridge over Budhi-Gandaki River in Arughat settlement to be submerged by Budhi Gandaki HPP. RwB
With the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the importance of the water conservancy sector in infrastructure construction has been well recognized in the global arena. However, despite ample development opportunities, there are still enormous risks and …