Press Release

Press Advisory One Thousand Amazon Indians will Rally to Oppose Xingu Dams: Journalists invited to Mass Gathering of Indigenous People in May The largest indigenous gathering in the Brazilian Amazon in nearly twenty years will take place between May 19 and 23 in the city of Altamira, Pará, to demonstrate opposition by indigenous peoples and their allies to hydroelectric dams being planned for the Xingu River. Journalists from all over the world are invited to attend the gathering, which is expected to bring together 1,000 indigenous people from the Xingu and other regions of the Amazon, in ad

Ilisu Dam Critics Backed by Damning Expert Report Critics of the ill-conceived Ilisu Dam in Turkey today held protests and rallies all over Europe in front government buildings, banks and companies involved in the dam project. Actions were planned for Paris, Milan, Rome, Berlin, Stuttgart and other German cities today, March 14, to mark the International Day of Action for Rivers, Water and Life. At least 77 organisations from 20 countries, including France, Germany and Italy, are all urging the governmental and financial institutions to withdraw from the project. The protesters'

The Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project in central Laos is not ready for reservoir impoundment, according to a report released today by International Rivers. The report, based on a recent site visit by International Rivers’ staff, shows that shortcomings and delays in programs to compensate villagers and restore their incomes have not been addressed. Furthermore, it is unclear if resettlement infrastructure for more than 6,200 villagers on the Nakai Plateau will be completed on time for reservoir filling to begin in June 2008.Shannon Lawrence, Lao Program Director for International Rivers, says:

Environmental Irresponsibility: Chile's Matte Group and Italy's Enel International Rivers today publicly launched new pressure tactics against Italian and Chilean companies that want to dam the Baker and Pascua rivers in Chilean Patagonia. The new tactics include asking the 50 largest building materials companies in the US—Chile’s best export market—to question Chile’s Matte Group wood products linked to these dams. A letter-writing campaign coordinated with Jane Goodall’s organization is contacting consumers and school children throughout the US, and an online multi-medi

Contacts Elizabeth Brink, International Rivers, +1 510-848-1155, ebrink@internationalrivers.org A New Lease on Life for the Klamath River: Bring the Hydro Dams Down!The story of the Klamath River is usually told as a zero-sum game that pits Native American tribes against farmers and farmers against environmentalists. But that storyline leaves out the four biggest culprits in the near demise of the Klamath River. Four hydroelectric dams-among them the aptly titled Iron Gate dam-owned by Warren Buffet’s PacifiCorp, have seriously degraded the river’s legendary salmon runs, encouraged toxic b

Presentation by Peter Bosshard, Policy Director, International Rivers Wednesday, February 13, 2008 5:30-6:00pm reception; 6:00pm program The Commonwealth Club 595 Market Street, 2nd Floor San Francisco, CA Chinese companies are rapidly developing dams, mines and oil projects around the world. Does China's new global role offer an alternative to Western dominance for Southern countries? Or does China's quest for resources spell doom for the world's rivers, forests and climate? What is our responsibility as consumers of products that are made in China? Bosshard will explore

Poor sector planning, lack of public participation aggravate social and environmental impacts described in ADB report A report presented in Vientiane today on the cumulative impacts of hydropower development in Laos' Nam Ngum river basin indicates that proposed dams would have serious impacts on the livelihoods of tens of thousands of Laotians. But the flawed planning process makes it unlikely that this Asian Development Bank (ADB)-supported cumulative impact assessment (CIA) will have any influence over decisions taken on whether or how to proceed with these hydropower schemes. The CIA con

Two of Chile’s most spectacular rivers - the Baker and Pascua - are threatened by plans to build five large dams that will flood rare temperate rainforest, habitat for several endangered species, as well as some of Patagonia’s best ranching lands. The power lines needed to transport the electricity would require one of the world's longest clearcuts -much of it through untouched temperate rainforests of a type found nowhere else on the planet. International Rivers - a group dedicated to protecting rivers and the rights of people dependent on those rivers - is working with Chilean envir

The environmental scientist originally hired to conduct the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the Theun-Hinboun Expansion Project in Laos has disassociated his group from the official report. Instead of accepting Dr. Murray Watson’s original – and highly critical – report, the Company ceased communicating with him and hired a Norwegian company, Norplan, to complete the EIA. Watson states that while the Norplan EIA claims to be based on his investigations, the EIA comes to different conclusions regarding the risks of the planned expansion project. According to Watson, “the N

International Rivers Network, Container Recycling Institute press release CONTACT: Jenny Gitlitz, CRI Research Dir., Dalton, MA (413) 684.4746Pat Franklin, CRI Executive Dir., Washington, DC (703) 276.9800Glenn Switkes, IRN Latin America Dir., São Paulo, Brazil 011.55.11.3822.4157Peter Bosshard, IRN Policy Dir., Berkeley, CA (510) 848.1155 The Aluminum Can’s Dirty Little Secret: On-going Environmental Harm Outpaces the Metal’s “Green” BenefitsWASHINGTON, DCIndustry “greenwashing” obscures the real environmental costs of aluminum production, according to the Container Recycling Ins