Letter

Ms. Mechtild Rössler Director World Heritage Division and World Heritage Centre UNESCO World Heritage Centre 7, Place de Fontenoy 75352 Paris France June 9, 2018 Subject: Protection of World Heritage Sites in Africa threatened by water infrastructure Dear Ms. Rössler, We would like to thank you for leading the protections for our heritage sites and for tackling some of the difficult calls as made in the recently published draft decisions. We are writing to raise concerns about six endangered World Heritage Sites in Africa, which are now threatened by large dams. These are the Dja Faunal Rese

The Santa Cruz River. Fernando de Gorocica, via Wikimedia Commons On July 19, 2017, a large group civil society organizations submitted a letter to Argentinean decision-makers detailing their concerns about the Kirchner-Cepernic Hydroelectric Complex (KCHC), a hydroelectric project proposed for the Santa Cruz River. The Santa Cruz River is one of the last, largest free-flowing rivers in Argentina. Its originates from two glacial lakes, Viedma and Argentino, in Argentina’s Los Glaciares National Park, which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1981. The Kirchner-Cepernic Complex w

On March 9, 2016 International Rivers sent a letter to the CEO of the Mekong River Commission to request clarification on the status of the Prior Consultation process for the Don Sahong Dam, along with the status of the planned Pak Beng and Sanakham Dams on the Mekong River.

President Barack Obama The White House Washington, DC Dear Mr. President, As you prepare to visit Ethiopia, a highly concerning situation in the country’s Lower Omo Valley deserves your urgent attention. The Lower Omo Valley is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to unique agro-pastoral communities whose way of life and identities are closely linked to the land and attuned to the natural variations in the Omo River. Yet these indigenous peoples and their unique cultures are under threat from developments on the Omo, in particular the Gibe 3 Dam. Currently in its final stages of constructi

On Feburary 2, 2015, International Rivers wrote to Sinohydro International Corporation regarding their role in the Don Sahong Dam on the Mekong River. Sinohydro International Corporation is the proposed EPC contractor for the Don Sahong Dam. The letter raises concern about Sinohydro's role in the second proposed dam on the Lower Mekong River mainstream. Following a meeting of the Joint Committee of the Mekong River Commission in January 2015, the four Mekong Governments could not reach agreement about how to proceed with the project. The inter-governmental decision was therefore raised to a mi

The following letter was sent to Nam Ngiep 1 Power Company raising questions about the delays in confirming compensation rates, identifying and building appropriate resettlement sites for the displaced people, reported rape cases by construction workers and how so-called 'biodiversity offsets' will be identified. Mr Yoshihiro Yamabayashi, Managing Director, Nam Ngiep 1 Power Company House No.236, Unit 16, Ban Phonesinumam, Sisattanak District, Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR -Via Email- 4 May 2015 Re: Nam Ngiep 1 Public IAP Report and March 2015 Responses Dear Mr. Yamabayashi, We are writing on beh

The attached letter was sent to the Malaysian Auditor General in January 2015, calling for an inquiry into the Murum Dam. It was jointly signed by Save Sarawak's Rivers Network, Bruno Manser Fund and International Rivers.

The following letter was sent to Asian Development Bank President Nakao from the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact, SAVE Rivers (Sarawak), Bruno Manser Fund and International Rivers about the bank's proposed loan to Sarawak Energy Bhd. to build a transmission line through Sarawak to the border of West Kalimantan, thereby facilitating export of power from planned hydropower dams in Sarawak to large scale industries close to the border with Indonesia. It can be downloaded here. The letter was accompanied by a list of Sarawak Energy contracts with evidence of a conflict of interest. Mr. Takehik

New research by DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) addresses the critical shortcomings of the MRC’s prior consultation process, echoing some of the concerns raised by civil society about its first trial run on the Xayaburi Dam and demonstrating the need for urgent reform before other Mekong mainstream dams undergo this process.