Dam-it! Actually, Don't...

International Rivers (IR) is a global, environmental non-profit whose mission is “to protect rivers and the rights of the communities who depend on them” (IR). The organization opposes the construction of destructive dams and encourages the implementation of innovative and responsible projects that meet people’s needs for water, energy, and environmental protection.

Formerly the International Rivers Network (IRN), International Rivers was founded in 1985 with the goal of pursuing their mission primarily in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. The organization has played an integral role in the successful campaigns against hydroelectric dam projects in Brazil and Nepal, coordinating the “International Day for Rivers,” winning reparation payments for communities in Guatemala resulting from dam projects, and forming the World Commission on Dams.

These goals are met through an aggressive and diverse action plan focusing on community organization and outreach in an effort to empower civil society in affected communities. Another aspect of their work is the focus on “changing the debate,” an organizational effort to pressure destructive dam projects from the top-down by highlighting the future consequences that these projects have on indigenous populations and the environment which they rely on for survival. Campaigns and boycotts are instituted against governments and their corporate partners that help fund large hydroelectric projects. Independent research and evaluations presented by International Rivers challenges government agencies whose rationale and support is based upon large-scale energy needs and a bottom-line approach.

The organization remains active on several fronts, most recently in campaigns against dam projects proposed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Laos, Chile, and Panama. The proposed dam on the Mekong in Laos is beset with issues that would make any human development advocate shudder. The flooding of the particular segment of the Mekong in Laos would endanger the already fragile ecosystem and fisheries that communities living on the river banks rely, while 95% of the energy garnered from the Laotian dam will be sold directly to Thailand.

Photo Credit: International Rivers