Category: <span>World Heritage Convention</span>

Hydropower dams may derail the St. Petersburg Declaration on Tiger Conservation

A new study shows that reservoirs in the wilderness fragment and destroy habitat for big cats. The same happens with apes, large migrating mammals and several other animal groups you would hardly associate with dams. And it is much worse when talking of freshwater dolphins, migratory fish (most fish migrates),waterfowl …

Turks Retreat From the Namakhvani Battlefield?!

For many months peoples’ movements of Georgia assisted by highly efficient Georgian NGOs have been fighting a serious battle against a new megadam project conceived by Georgian Government, Norwegian Clean Energy Group and Turkish ENKA. The last important reinforcement came from scientists and conservation officials who helped to list sturgeons …

Hydropower Sustainability Tools Will Help the IHA Members to Build More Dams Affecting Protected Areas?!

It has been almost two weeks since the International Hydropower Association (IHA) announced its “historic commitment” not to build dams inside the World Heritage areas. It became about the last in the long line of industries who have been convinced by the World Heritage Center to declare such a commitment. …

Could China Become the Champion in Dam Removal?

Bloomberg   As President Xi Jinping calls for greater environmental protection, officials are eager to demolish badly-planned dams. But the country will need vast amounts of clean hydroelectric power to meet its net-zero goal. China is trying to wean its massive economy off coal and fossil fuels to meet its …

Daursky Strict Scientific Nature Reserve Almost Doubles in Size

State Strict Scientific Nature Reserve (Zapovednik) Daursky has been expanded by Governmental Decree #1301 issued on August 4, 2021. The area of the strictly protect area has been expanded from 45 000 hectares to 84 000 ha (more than by 80%) by adding 11 new adjacent land plots in grassland …

World Heritage as a “No Go” Zone for Investment in Industry and Infrastructure

Dams threatening Lake Baikal and five other iconic areas are featured in a new report by Friends of the Earth US “World Heritage Forever? How Banks Can Protect the World’s Most Iconic Cultural and Natural Sites”. The report is examining how the international banking sector lacks strong policies and practices …