International Day of Action 2008: Europe
France | Germany | Iceland | Italy | Portugal | Spain | Turkey
France
Press Conference about Yacyretá
The European Rivers Network (ERN) held a press conference in conjunction with Loire Vivante about the Yacyretá-Apipé Dam, which is located on the Paraná River between Argentina and Paraguay. They spoke about how their protests led to six days spent in jail in that region.
Contact
European Rivers Network
SOS Loire Vivante
ERN, Main & Westeuropean Office
8 Rue Crozatier
43000 Le Puy / Southern France
Phone: +33 4 71 02 08 14
Web: www.ern.org
Email: roberto.epple@ern.org
Informative Action in Paris
The Friends of the Earth of France assembled in front of the headquarters of Societe Generale last Friday. Around 20 people from France and from Kurdish groups made up the group, and they proudly held up a big banner protesting the Ilisu Dam, distributed 1500 leaflets in 30 minutes and made strong contacts with various workers' unions.
Contact
Friends of the Earth France
2B rue Jules Ferry - 93 100 Montreuil
Phone : 01 48 51 32 22
Web: www.amisdelaterre.org
Germany
Action Against the Ilisu Dam
German activists took action against the controversial Ilisu Dam in Turkey on March 14. A joint declaration was presented to the Turkish government asking it to cancel its plans to build the Ilisu dam and instead, to develop a "truly participatory sustainable development plan for the region." Also, despite the rain, a "dam wall' was constructed as a visual protest.
Contact
Heike Drillisch
WEED (World Economy, Ecology & Development)
Phone: 030 - 275 82 249
Web: www.weed-online.org
Email: heike.drillisch@weed-online.org
Iceland
Keeping Dams out of the Beautiful Scenery
In solidarity with farmers in Pjorsa, Saving Iceland took action to protect a beautiful, fertile region of the country that is threatened by heavy industry plans to place a new dam on a waterfall in order to power new aluminum smelters and other industries. They built a small "dam" in front of the Landsvirkjuns office entrance so the workers had to either to step over the dam to get inside or use a different entrance. With this peaceful demonstration, Saving Iceland wanted to protest the development of three dams that Landsvirkjun, the national energy company, hopes to build on the Pjorsa. They also held a movie/discussion evening at a local cafe with the theme of the global impact of heavy industry and big dams. Between movies there were discussions about potential actions against the dam.
Contact
Miriam Rose
Saving Iceland
Web: www.savingiceland.org
Email: welliebird7@hotmail.co.uk
Poetry Reading to Celebrate the Þjórsá River
Friends of the Þjórsá River met by the Urriðafoss waterfall and read
poetry in honor of the Day of Action. The waterfall is now in its
"winter costume" and people were asked to come and observe it, as well
as to show solidarity and support for the people fighting against
Landsvirkjun´s plans to dam the lower
part of the river.
Contact
Friends of the Þjórsá River
Phone: 892 8202
Italy
Italian Solidarity Against Dam Construction in Turkey
In attempt to stop the actions of the Unicredit Bank, a demonstration in protest of dam construction at the Hasankeyf and Tigris Valley in Turkish Kurdistan was held on March 14th. The protests were held at the Unicredit Banks in Milan and Rome, and were enacted by many Italians and Kurds.
Contact
Fabio Clerici
Email: fabio.clerici@autistici.org
Portugal
Colloquium and Outdoor Activities in Honor of Rivers
The "Coordenadora de Afectados pelas Grandes Barragens e Transvases - Secção Portuguesa" (COAGRET-Portugal) celebrated the International Day of Action for Rivers at the Tua River (Trás-os-Montes, NE Portugal), which is threatened with the prospect of a 100 meters-long hydropower dam. Starting in the morning, students in a Renewable Energy course at Mirandela High School co-hosted a colloquium with COAGRET, titled, "Microgeneration of Energy = Macrogeneration of Jobs". Next, there was a kayak demonstration at the Tua River next to Mirandela's city center, and a kayak trip from S. Lourenço to Foz Tua. The day ended with a train trip, up to the Tua valley and then back to Mirandela. During the weekend following the Day of Action, river defenders took part in hikes and birdwatching trips and organized meetings with dam-affected peoples.
Contact
Duarte Nuno Januário (Escola Secundária de Mirandela) and
Pedro Couteiro
COAGRET--Portugal
Estação de Caminhos de Ferro de Mirandela, 4
5370-408 MIRANDELA
Phone: +351 969761301
Web: http://coagret.wordpress.com
Email: coagret.pt@gmail.com
Meeting to Free the Sabor River
The annual meeting at the Sabor River will take place from the 25th through the 27th of April, and as usual, will offer participants the opportunity to enjoy what is one of Europe's last-existing, truly "wild" rivers. There will be thematic guided walks by the riverside, as well as canoe and kayak runs. Participants' efforts seek to change the mind of the headstrong Portuguese government, which seems to be planning to go ahead with dam construction development on the Sabor, even in the face of massive protest.
Contact
Bárbara Fraguas, Organizer
Platform Sabor Livre/ALDEIA
Phone: +351 960173863
Web: www.aldeia.org
Email: saborlivre@gmail.com
Spain
Into the Dams to Voice Protest!
Contact
José Rubén Pérez González
webmaster pescaleon.com
Web: www.pescaleon.com
Email: info@pescaleon.com
Videoforum to Shed Light on the Dam Issue in Patagonia
In Madrid, the Ecologistas en Acción showed the video, "Apaga y Vamanos" by Manel Mayol, which explains Endesa's plans to dam the Baker and Pascua rivers in Patagonia, which will infringe upon and forever damage the ancestral territory of the Mapuche-Pehuenche people of the region.
Contact
Samuel Martín-Sosa Rodríguez
Responsable de Internacional/International Coordinator
Ecologistas en Acción
Marqués de Leganés 12
28004 Madrid
Phone: +34 915312739
Web: www.ecologistasenaccion.org
Email: internacional@ecologistasenaccion.org
Day remembered with a film and an action
The project Mirando Al Sur took advantage of the Day of Action by openly denouncing the investments of the World Bank in large dams that cause the exodus of hundreds of thousands of people, whose towns, cities, ecosystems and historical patrimony is flooded,along with important natural habitats, when dams are built.
Contact
Pedro Luis Sáinz
Mirando Al Sur
Email: pedros1963@latinmail.com
Scientific study is part of the larger campaign to conserve the Guadalquirir
AEA El Bosque Animado of Cordoba, Spain organized a census of the breeding colony of the Night Heron just following the Day of Action. The study took place in the Sotos de la Albolafia, which is an urban protected area whose main features are the Guadalquirir River and its birds. This study is part of the larger campaign to protect the the river, which is heavily impacted by both dams and droughts.
Contact
Florent Prunier
AEA El Bosque Animado
Tomas de Aquino
14004 Cordoba
Web: http://aeaelbosqueanimado.blogspot.com
Email: aeaelbosqueanimado.info@gmail.com
Turkey
Demonstration to protest against the Ilisu Dam project
An action was organized and coordinated by the Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive Network in Turkey. There was a large European delegation in the country to celebrate the Kurdish "Newroz Day', which is a very old traditional celebration that is repressed by Turkish authorities and police every year. The demonstration followed a press conference held by Turkish Parliament deputy, Hayla Hawket. Three hundred people took part in the protest, including Kurds and activists from a variety of other European countries.
Contact
Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive
Hasankeyf’i Yaşatma Girişimi
Yerel Gündem 21, Yeşil Sok.
Cami Kebir Mah.
Suriçi/Diyarbakir
TURKEY
Phone: +90 (412) 228 96 30
Web:http://www.hasankeyfgirisimi.com/en/index.htm
Email: hasankeyfgirisimi@gmail.com
For further information, please contact:
Day of Action Coordinator
International Rivers
1847 Berkeley Way
Berkeley, CA 94703 USA
Phone: +1 510-848-1155
Fax: +1 510-848-1008
E-mail: dayofaction@internationalrivers.org
