On June 11, 2007, the government of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh closed the gates of the Omkareshwar dam in the Narmada valley. Since then, dozens of villages have been flooded, and houses, fields and trees have disappeared under the water. Most families from the submerged villages have not been given new land -- they have nowhere to go.
Support the demands of the people in the Narmada Valley by sending a letter to the Chief Minister of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
On February 21 Mr. Albayero Granados, a leader in El Salvador’s National Anti-dam Movement, was kidnapped. Five days later he was found murdered, allegedly for his activities in organizing Salvadorans against the El Cimarrón and Chaparral dams. Sadly, this murder is not an isolated case.
Please join us in urging the Salvadoran government to investigate this murder and to protect activists who are exercising their rights to peacefully defend their communities.
If built, the Arcediano Dam will supply water from the highly polluted Santiago River to the residents of Guadalajara City, posing serious health risks to more than three million people in Mexico’s second largest city.
For more than 30 years, untreated industrial effluent and sewage from the metropolis of Guadalajara has flowed into the Santiago River. In 2001, the National Water Commission (CNA) declared the Santiago River unsuitable as a source of drinking water. Nevertheless, the National Water Commission proposes building the Arcediano Dam Project to supply water to Guadalajara. Residents of Guadalajara are concerned that the water will be unsuitable for human consumption, and that the proposed treatment facilities will be inadequate for removing the toxic heavy metals and organic wastes that have accumulated in the Santiago River.
Communities are demanding that a comprehensive health impact assessment is conducted before construction of the project begins, and that alternative options for water supply are considered for Guadalajara City.
The Amazon is under threat. The Brazilian government is planning to build two massive dams on one of the Amazon’s most important tributaries, the Madeira River. The projects would push many species to the brink of extinction, and would affect the land and livelihoods of thousands of river bank dwellers and indigenous people. But it is not too late. With your help we can show the Brazilian government that the rivers of Amazonia are worth protecting. Write to the Brazilian Environment Minister and the Mines and Energy Minister telling them the Madeira is too important a treasure to destroy.
Send an email letter to Brazilian officials urging them to consider alternatives to damming the Madeira River.
On June 8, 2006 Rafael Markus Bangit, a leader of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) was assassinated by a masked gunman. He is one of more than a hundred Filipino environmental and human rights activists who have been murdered over the past two years for their political activities. Dozens of Filipino activists have received death threats and have gone into hiding, fearing for their lives.
Meanwhile the Philippine government has stood by and done nothing to protect the human rights of its citizens or investigate the murders that have taken place. Please join us in urging the Philippine government to investigate these extra-judicial killings and death threats and to see that justice is served and human rights are respected.
Please take action to prevent the damming of the Baker and Pascua, two of the best-preserved rivers in Chilean Patagonia. The dams would affect protected areas and areas which are priorities for conservation, glacial lakes, and endemic species and biodiversity in the region. The dams would threaten proposals for maintaining the region as a "Life Reserve" and its rapidly expanding ecotourism industry.
We need your help to send a message to Chile’s recently-elected President Michelle Bachelet, in order to communicate your concern about the impacts of the proposed dams.
Your help is needed to keep the Nu (Salween) River in China flowing freely. The river is one of only two undammed rivers in China. The Yunnan Provincial government plans to construct a series of up to thirteen dams on the Nu River. The river forms part of the Three Parallel Rivers World Heritage Site, which is known to be one of the ecologically richest temperate regions of the world. The area contains over 6,000 different plant species and is believed to support over 25% of the world’s and 50% of China’s animal species. The dams will threaten the rich biodiversity of the area, affecting many rare and endangered species. Despite concerns about the dam impacts, the Chinese government plans to approve construction of the projects without releasing the environmental impact assessment (EIA) to the public.
We need your help to send a message to Zhou Wenshong, the Chinese Ambassador to the US, asking him to relay the message to Premier Wen Jiabao that the Nu River should be protected for future generations, and that the EIA should be immediately released to the public.
Repression of dam opponents has already led to 2 deaths
Send a message to Vicente Fox, President of Mexico, asking that he cancel construction of the La Parota Hydroelectric project due to the opposition by communities who would be affected by the dam. The Mexican government wants to start construction on La Parota dam this year, and is trying rush through project approval without following the proper procedures. This has resulted in serious human rights violations for affected communities. If built, the project would affect the lives of 25,000 people who currently depend on the Papagayo River for fish, transportation, agriculture, water and other uses. Yet many of these people have not been given an opportunity to participate in community forums to discuss the project, and two potentially affected people have been killed as a result of their opposition to the project.
Send an email letter asking President Fox to cancel the project, stop repression of project opponents and investigate better alternatives for meeting Mexico’s energy needs!
Additional Information
For further information, please contact:
International Rivers Network E-mail: irn@irn.org Phone: +1 510-848-1155
