The Story of Rivers in Rio

Date: 
Tuesday, June 19, 2012

The story of rivers in Rio during the Rio+20 Earth Summit is an inspiring one. From the occupation of the Belo Monte Dam site on the Xingu River to the session at the People's Summit about Debunking Dams as Clean Energy, International Rivers and our partners are on the ground to support the movement for healthy rivers and human rights, from the Brazilian Amazon to Turkish Anatolia. Executive Director Jason Rainey and Amazon Program Director Brent Millikan report back from Brazil.

Here's our story:

Letting the Xingu Run Freely, June 15, 2012 – Early this morning, hundreds of people began an occupation of the Belo Monte Dam site near Altamira, Brazil, in the heart of the Amazon. See photos and video of this historic event.

River & Rio+20 Dispatch: Green Economy, June 17, 2012 – Let me start by setting the scene. The People’s Summit is a steamy cauldron of the critical, the practical and the absurd. The Summit grounds stretch a kilometer or two along Flamengo Park, a ribbon of greenspace between a highway and white sand beaches.

Update from Rio: Strengthening the Alliance of River Defenders, June 19, 2012 – Today was another action-packed and memorable day in Rio. In the morning, we co-organized an event at the People’s Summit on debunking the myth of destructive dams as clean energy. Soon after the meeting ended, we headed out to an adjacent beach at Aterro do Flamengo to participate in a human banner.

River & Rio+20 Dispatch: Brazil Energy, June 20, 2012 – Today the UN Conference on Sustainable Development formally opens, yet the preliminary dialogue process, side events, and People's Summit that are all part of Rio+20 have been underway for days.

Stirring up the Streets of Rio, June 22, 2012 – The last two days in Rio have been more action-packed than ever. On Wednesday, the day of the global march of the People’s Summit, we met our colleagues from the Movimento Xingu Vivo at daybreak in the Sambadrômo – site of the Rio samba school parades where indigenous peoples and other popular movements are camped out.

Wrapping Rio, June 26, 2012 – I’m now back in California after the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development that played out in Rio de Janeiro last week. With weak participation from key governments – and strong “title sponsor” influence from mammoth energy and mining corporations including Vale and Eletrobras – it’s not so surprising that the final document from the official proceedings has widely been called a failure for people and the planet.

Statement by indigenous leader on occupation of the Belo Monte Pimental Dam site, June 30, 2012 – "Today we are in day 10 of the occupation.We had the meeting on Thursday with Norte Energia but did not reach any agreement. Construction on the coffer dam and in the work camp is still paralyzed..."

Indigenous Protestors Maintain Belo Monte Occupation, July 2, 2012 – Word came early this morning that hundreds of indigenous people continue to occupy the Belo Monte Dam construction site. Sunday marked the 11th day of the occupation, which began on the heels of the Rio+20 Summit.

Check out photos on Flickr:


And videos:

More incredible photos and accounts are pouring in from Rio and being shared by our partners around the world. Scroll down to discover more.

More information: 
  • Check out our Facebook page to see more photos from the Xingu+23 encounter and Rio+20