https://news.mongabay.com/list/dams/ Environmental science and conservation news Tue, 30 Jun 2026 02:49:21 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png https://news.mongabay.com/list/dams/ 32 32 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-rio-indio-farmers-fight-panama-canal-reservoir-project-and-displacement/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-rio-indio-farmers-fight-panama-canal-reservoir-project-and-displacement/#respond 16 Jun 2026 15:20:13 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321305 - Opposition to the Rio Indio Project among farmer communities is growing strong through street protests, legal action and the enlistment of experts to analyze its social and legal impacts.
- Communities support the expansion of an existing reservoir fed by the Bayano River that would not require relocating people, but ACP tells Mongabay that the Bayano option has been long studied and that Río Indio provides more technical and energy advantages.
- The Rio Indio Project would not only relocate residents but would disrupt ecosystems and endemic species and could increase the spread of vector-transmitted diseases, experts warn.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-rio-indio-farmers-fight-panama-canal-reservoir-project-and-displacement/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321305 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-blueprint-for-effective-activism-10-years-after-defeating-a-dam-in-borneo-analysis/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-blueprint-for-effective-activism-10-years-after-defeating-a-dam-in-borneo-analysis/#respond 10 Jun 2026 18:59:56 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320891 - Ten years since Indigenous and local communities united with civil society organizations across the world to send that proposal down to a historic defeat, two leaders of one NGO that was key to the victory reflect on what helped the campaign succeed.
- “While the Baram victory cannot be automatically replicated — since each river, each community, each political configuration is its own — the structure of the campaign’s Indigenous-led physical resistance, rigorous independent science, and international solidarity infrastructure that amplifies without supplanting local leadership has been reactivated in varying forms and sites of victory across the world,” they write.
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-blueprint-for-effective-activism-10-years-after-defeating-a-dam-in-borneo-analysis/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320891 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/europe-removes-record-number-of-dams-in-2025-to-restore-rivers-help-species/ https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/europe-removes-record-number-of-dams-in-2025-to-restore-rivers-help-species/#respond 01 Jun 2026 16:01:25 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&p=320438 Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/europe-removes-record-number-of-dams-in-2025-to-restore-rivers-help-species/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320438 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-worlds-great-deltas-are-sinking-and-with-them-a-global-food-system/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-worlds-great-deltas-are-sinking-and-with-them-a-global-food-system/#respond 06 May 2026 19:54:03 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318789 - The Mekong is just one of 40 of the world’s large river deltas threatened by high subsidence rates coupled with rising sea levels, according to a 2026 global study. Among the 19 river deltas seeing the most significant widespread subsidence are those on the Mekong, Nile, Chao Phraya, Ganga-Brahmaputra, and Mississippi rivers.
- As the world’s great deltas sink, humanity loses rich, irreplaceable agricultural lands, fisheries, urban areas and exceptional biodiversity — much of which will not be salvageable beyond a certain point. Delta loss poses a significant threat to global food security, and an existential threat to often impoverished delta communities.
- Delta subsidence can be slowed and even reversed by implementing well-understood mitigation strategies, say experts, by replacing hydropower dams with alternative energy, reducing sand mining and groundwater extraction, and altering agricultural practices. But these solutions are hampered by economics and lack of political will.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-worlds-great-deltas-are-sinking-and-with-them-a-global-food-system/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318789 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-nepal-controversial-dam-threatens-endangered-pangolins-study/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-nepal-controversial-dam-threatens-endangered-pangolins-study/#respond 22 Apr 2026 08:10:54 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317904 - Researchers warn that pangolins are especially vulnerable due to their small home ranges and specific habitat needs, meaning even limited habitat loss could have severe population impacts.
- The dam’s environmental impact assessment is criticized for failing to properly acknowledge or evaluate risks to these threatened species.
- Beyond pangolins, other threatened wildlife in the park — including leopards and Himalayan black bear — may face displacement, increasing ecological stress and conflict risks.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-nepal-controversial-dam-threatens-endangered-pangolins-study/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317904 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/indigenous-governance-key-to-protecting-amazon-basin-connectivity-experts-say/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/indigenous-governance-key-to-protecting-amazon-basin-connectivity-experts-say/#respond 07 Apr 2026 09:36:25 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316855 - According to the Science Panel for the Amazon, 23% of the Amazon lowlands, 24% of rivers, 25% of wetlands and 28% of the Amazonian Andes are affected by at least one anthropogenic activity, with some parts of the Amazon Basin more affected by loss of connectivity than others.
- Indigenous territories and conservation units suffer from less ecosystem disruption, which highlights the importance of guaranteeing the protection of these areas, particularly by supporting Indigenous governance, the researchers argue.
- Other solutions include the creation of dam-free river sanctuaries and biodiversity corridors in the areas of the Amazon Basin that have been least affected by deforestation to help maintain landscape connectivity.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/indigenous-governance-key-to-protecting-amazon-basin-connectivity-experts-say/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316855 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/contested-amazon-dam-called-to-review-water-flow-as-river-ecosystem-fails/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/contested-amazon-dam-called-to-review-water-flow-as-river-ecosystem-fails/#respond 19 Mar 2026 17:45:39 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315988 - The plant’s water flow has been subject to several complaints, as low water levels in the Volta Grande do Xingu have dried flooded forests and rock habitats, disrupting fish and turtle reproduction and threatening endemic species.
- “Increasing the amount of water is the only solution to restore this ecosystem,” says Josiel Juruna, coordinator of an Indigenous-led monitoring program documenting the impacts.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/contested-amazon-dam-called-to-review-water-flow-as-river-ecosystem-fails/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315988 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/indonesia-court-orders-release-of-withheld-impact-studies-on-new-capital/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/indonesia-court-orders-release-of-withheld-impact-studies-on-new-capital/#respond 19 Mar 2026 11:16:34 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315963 - In 2019, then-president Joko Widodo announced he would move the capital of the world’s fourth-most-populous country from Jakarta to Nusantara, a new site surrounded by forests and Indigenous communities on the east coast of Borneo.
- At issue are the Sepaku Semoi Dam and Sepaku River intake, two infrastructure projects at Nusantara that have impacted local Indigenous populations, Jatam said.
- The NGO called the ruling a victory for transparency, but criticized efforts to withhold documents and pointed to a 2008 law as well as Indonesia’s Constitution requiring public access to information.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/indonesia-court-orders-release-of-withheld-impact-studies-on-new-capital/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315963 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/disastrous-floods-in-colombia-reignite-debate-over-hydroelectric-dam/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/disastrous-floods-in-colombia-reignite-debate-over-hydroelectric-dam/#respond 13 Mar 2026 17:12:42 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315701 - The heavy rainfalls occurring during the dry season have been linked to increasing temperatures and stronger coastal winds, which have amplified the impacts of a cold front in the Caribbean region. As official efforts to clean up the flooded areas fall short, locals worry that mosquito-borne diseases like dengue might spread.
- The flooding has reopened debate over Urrá, a large hydroelectric dam on the Sinú River. The project has been the subject of Indigenous resistance for decades, and some locals, experts and politicians blame it for intensifying recent flooding.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/disastrous-floods-in-colombia-reignite-debate-over-hydroelectric-dam/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315701 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-promise-and-perils-of-the-1995-mekong-river-agreement-commentary/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-promise-and-perils-of-the-1995-mekong-river-agreement-commentary/#respond 10 Mar 2026 09:52:13 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315485 - Hydropower expansion and major projects such as Laos’s mainstream dams and Cambodia’s Funan Techo Canal are accelerating ecological decline, harming fisheries, sediment flows and the Tonle Sap–Mekong system despite consultation processes meant to prevent such impacts.
- “This is not cooperation,” the author writes of the agreement. “It is a rat race tearing the Mekong apart.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-promise-and-perils-of-the-1995-mekong-river-agreement-commentary/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315485 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cambodian-market-survey-a-snapshot-of-a-resilient-but-stressed-mekong/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cambodian-market-survey-a-snapshot-of-a-resilient-but-stressed-mekong/#respond 10 Mar 2026 01:59:10 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315459 - The survey builds on a benchmark set by a 1994 survey in Stung Treng, allowing scientists to detect patterns in the size and diversity of fish being pulled from the river.
- The team identified 130 species, compared with 113 in the 1994 survey; 46 species were newly documented, many of them linked to aquaculture, while 29 species documented in 1994 were not found.
- Survey members say the tally shows the resilience of the Mekong, especially in places like Stung Treng where it remains undammed, but also points to worrying trends such as smaller fish dominating catches.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cambodian-market-survey-a-snapshot-of-a-resilient-but-stressed-mekong/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315459 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/amazon-villages-build-autonomous-energy-systems-after-mega-dam-failed-pledges/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/amazon-villages-build-autonomous-energy-systems-after-mega-dam-failed-pledges/#respond 18 Feb 2026 19:22:15 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314417 - The project’s hydrokinetic turbines use specialized filter systems and slow-rotation grids designed to generate electricity without harming local river fauna.
- Roughly 990,000 people in the Brazilian Amazon still lack access to electricity despite the region hosting some of the world’s largest hydropower facilities.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/amazon-villages-build-autonomous-energy-systems-after-mega-dam-failed-pledges/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314417 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/ethiopias-renaissance-mega-dam-fuels-energy-hopes-and-regional-anxiety/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/ethiopias-renaissance-mega-dam-fuels-energy-hopes-and-regional-anxiety/#respond 06 Feb 2026 06:30:32 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313771 - Egypt, which lies downstream in the Nile Basin, views the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam as an existential threat, warning of risks to Nile water security and regional stability.
- Scientists caution that dam failures or mismanagement could trigger catastrophic flooding in Sudan and Egypt.
- Critics argue that the dam may serve as a geopolitical and public relations tool, while its environmental and social impacts remain insufficiently assessed.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/ethiopias-renaissance-mega-dam-fuels-energy-hopes-and-regional-anxiety/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313771 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/a-dam-threatens-nepals-indigenous-community-they-want-it-on-the-ballot/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/a-dam-threatens-nepals-indigenous-community-they-want-it-on-the-ballot/#respond 04 Feb 2026 20:17:12 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313732 - Locals fear displacement as well as loss of forests, rituals, grazing land and medicinal plants, with estimates of up to 80,000 trees cut, increased human-wildlife conflict and erosion of ancestral ties to the land.
- Critics and engineers warn the $190 million dam is unnecessary and systemically risky, citing weak environmental assessments, seismic vulnerability and catastrophic flood potential for downstream Kathmandu if the dam fails.
- As Nepal heads into parliamentary elections, Mulkharka residents want the dam debated at the ballot box calling for development models that prioritize community consent, ecological safety and accountability.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/a-dam-threatens-nepals-indigenous-community-they-want-it-on-the-ballot/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313732 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/fish-deformities-expose-collapse-of-xingu-rivers-pulse-after-construction-of-belo-monte-dam/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/fish-deformities-expose-collapse-of-xingu-rivers-pulse-after-construction-of-belo-monte-dam/#respond 31 Dec 2025 09:43:07 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312368 - Potential factors could include changes in the river’s flood pulse, water pollution, higher water temperatures, and food scarcity, all linked to the reduced flow in this section of the Xingu since the dam began operating in 2016.
- Federal prosecutors are scrutinizing the dam’s impact, alongside independent researchers, and at the recent COP30 climate summit warned of “ecosystem collapse.”
- Both scientists and affected communities say the prescribed rate at which the dam operator is releasing water into the river is far too low to simulate its natural cycle, leaving the region’s flooded forests dry and exacerbating the effects of drought.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/fish-deformities-expose-collapse-of-xingu-rivers-pulse-after-construction-of-belo-monte-dam/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312368 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/amazon-fishers-help-scientists-map-dam-harms-to-madeira-river-stocks/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/amazon-fishers-help-scientists-map-dam-harms-to-madeira-river-stocks/#respond 29 Dec 2025 14:05:08 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312183 - The dams limited the natural flow of the Madeira, disrupting the currents that fish need and causing up to a 90% reduction in stocks in some locations; species like pirarucu and tambaqui have largely disappeared from traditional fishing communities.
- The research serves as evidence to support the decade-long legal battle by fishers in Humaitá who are seeking compensation for losses caused by power plants.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/amazon-fishers-help-scientists-map-dam-harms-to-madeira-river-stocks/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312183 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/the-first-amphibian-to-halt-a-hydroelectric-dam-now-takes-on-the-climate-crisis/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/the-first-amphibian-to-halt-a-hydroelectric-dam-now-takes-on-the-climate-crisis/#respond 22 Dec 2025 10:19:10 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311865 - After the 2024 floods, researchers returned to the area to assess the impacts of the state’s biggest climate catastrophe on its environment.
- With just over a thousand individuals in the wild, the species is listed as “critically endangered”; in addition to climate change, the little toad suffers from the advance of monocultures and the threat of wildlife trafficking.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/the-first-amphibian-to-halt-a-hydroelectric-dam-now-takes-on-the-climate-crisis/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311865 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/new-riverside-lake-in-nepal-wins-hearts-but-faces-government-opposition/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/new-riverside-lake-in-nepal-wins-hearts-but-faces-government-opposition/#respond 28 Nov 2025 16:26:30 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310313 - The lake, which may have helped improve groundwater levels, soil moisture and crop yields in surrounding areas, has provided habitat for migratory birds.
- However, the fate of the lake hangs in the balance as the country’s anti-corruption court looks into alleged corruption and the lack of environmental compliance during its construction.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/new-riverside-lake-in-nepal-wins-hearts-but-faces-government-opposition/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310313 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/lesotho-communities-allege-greenwashing-by-project-transferring-water-to-south-africa/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/lesotho-communities-allege-greenwashing-by-project-transferring-water-to-south-africa/#respond 21 Nov 2025 17:31:19 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=309980 - However, complainants from communities impacted and displaced by the complex of dams, water channels, feeder roads, and bridges accuse the developers of promoting the LHWP as a climate mitigation project and ignoring its impacts on their livelihoods and the environment, and call it “greenwashing.”
- The project is degrading the environment, polluting water streams used by residents, destroying cultivable land used to grow food crops, eating into forests, and reducing access to pastures, according to the complaint filed with the African Development Bank (AfDB), which is partly financing the LHWP.
- “We are not just being denied benefits from the project, we are suffering harm from it,” the complaint says.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/lesotho-communities-allege-greenwashing-by-project-transferring-water-to-south-africa/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-309980 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/cameroon-inaugurates-controversial-dam-despite-local-dissent/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/cameroon-inaugurates-controversial-dam-despite-local-dissent/#respond 10 Oct 2025 14:31:24 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307404 - The dam’s construction has also led to loss of livelihoods for fishers and sand miners on the Sanaga River around the dam site.
- In 2022, these workers received compensation from the dam, but as the full dimensions of their losses emerge, they say this was inadequate.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/cameroon-inaugurates-controversial-dam-despite-local-dissent/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307404 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/turning-a-stream-into-a-river-inside-indias-yettinahole-diversion-project/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/turning-a-stream-into-a-river-inside-indias-yettinahole-diversion-project/#respond 02 Oct 2025 16:49:29 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=306921 - The Yettinaholé Integrated Drinking Water Supply Project aims to divert 24 TMC of stormwater from the Yettinahalla and other nearby streams to several dry districts hundreds of kilometers away.
- Village life is also undergoing a series of development changes — as well as an uptick in conflicts with elephants coming from the nearby forests; meanwhile, local fishers wonder how many of the streams they rely on will become part of the diversion project, fearing for the future of their livelihoods.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/turning-a-stream-into-a-river-inside-indias-yettinahole-diversion-project/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-306921 https://news.mongabay.com/custom-story/2025/09/hope-for-the-iconic-yangtze-sturgeon-cartoon/ https://news.mongabay.com/custom-story/2025/09/hope-for-the-iconic-yangtze-sturgeon-cartoon/#respond 29 Sep 2025 10:37:25 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=custom-story&p=306734 Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/custom-story/2025/09/hope-for-the-iconic-yangtze-sturgeon-cartoon/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-306734 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/cambodian-irrigation-dam-construction-threatens-riverine-communities-in-the-cardamoms/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/cambodian-irrigation-dam-construction-threatens-riverine-communities-in-the-cardamoms/#respond 10 Sep 2025 03:23:35 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305650 - The Cardamom Mountains, where the park is located, are among Cambodia’s last biodiversity hotspots, home to elephants, pangolins and gibbons, but dam projects and illegal logging are accelerating habitat loss.
- Villagers upstream of the dam say they’ll lose forest access, water and livelihoods, while downstream rice farmers stand to benefit; residents report they were not properly consulted.
- The project overlaps with a REDD+ carbon-offset area and appears to have broken ground without a completed environmental impact assessment, raising legal and transparency questions.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/cambodian-irrigation-dam-construction-threatens-riverine-communities-in-the-cardamoms/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305650 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/shrinking-mekong-megafish-underlines-risks-to-the-river-study-finds/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/shrinking-mekong-megafish-underlines-risks-to-the-river-study-finds/#respond 26 Aug 2025 14:16:42 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304811 - Researchers analyzed more than 397,000 samples of 257 species across Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, finding that fish longer than 60 centimeters (2 feet) are shrinking fastest, while smaller species show little change.
- Overfishing, habitat loss, dam construction, sand mining, pollution and climate change are driving the decline, raising fears of collapse in one of the world’s most important inland fisheries.
- Scientists warn the trend mirrors global declines in large freshwater species, such as in the Amazon and Nile basins, but recent discoveries of massive fish like a 300-kg stingray show it’s not too late for recovery if urgent action is taken.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/shrinking-mekong-megafish-underlines-risks-to-the-river-study-finds/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304811 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/development-banks-under-fire-for-backing-disputed-nepal-hydropower-project/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/development-banks-under-fire-for-backing-disputed-nepal-hydropower-project/#respond 22 Aug 2025 00:14:13 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304531 - Project developer Tanahu Hydropower Limited (THL), a subsidiary of the national electricity utility, says it has completed the consultation process.
- Half of the complaints against hydropower projects in Nepal documented by a rights watchdog are related to the Tanahu project, which receives funding from the Asian Development Bank, European Investment Bank and World Bank.
- Most of Nepal’s electricity is generated through hydropower, and the government plans to expand the country’s generating capacity nearly eightfold to 28,500 megawatts by 2035.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/development-banks-under-fire-for-backing-disputed-nepal-hydropower-project/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304531 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/08/asias-longest-free-flowing-river-faces-threats-of-dams-and-diversions/ https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/08/asias-longest-free-flowing-river-faces-threats-of-dams-and-diversions/#respond 06 Aug 2025 13:49:24 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&p=303856 Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/08/asias-longest-free-flowing-river-faces-threats-of-dams-and-diversions/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-303856 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/07/native-american-teens-kayak-major-us-river-to-celebrate-removal-of-dams-and-return-of-salmon/ https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/07/native-american-teens-kayak-major-us-river-to-celebrate-removal-of-dams-and-return-of-salmon/#respond 15 Jul 2025 15:26:12 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&p=302533 Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/07/native-american-teens-kayak-major-us-river-to-celebrate-removal-of-dams-and-return-of-salmon/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-302533 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/specter-of-dams-and-diversion-looms-over-southeast-asias-salween-river/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/specter-of-dams-and-diversion-looms-over-southeast-asias-salween-river/#respond 19 Jun 2025 03:48:29 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301033 - Myanmar’s postcoup instability has stalled dam construction, though powerful armed groups and foreign investors, particularly from China and Thailand, remain key players in determining the river’s fate.
- The Thai-backed Hatgyi Dam and the Yuam River Diversion Project risk submerging villages, displacing Indigenous Karen communities, and diverting massive amounts of water for agriculture in central Thailand.
- Local resistance, legal challenges and transboundary activism are mounting, with critics calling for permanent protection of the Salween and condemning the exclusion of affected communities from decision-making.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/specter-of-dams-and-diversion-looms-over-southeast-asias-salween-river/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301033 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/06/world-bank-to-finance-controversial-drc-hydropower-project-concerns-remain/ https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/06/world-bank-to-finance-controversial-drc-hydropower-project-concerns-remain/#respond 11 Jun 2025 11:17:46 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&p=300583 Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/06/world-bank-to-finance-controversial-drc-hydropower-project-concerns-remain/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300583 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/in-nepal-northernmost-sighting-of-eurasian-otter-raises-hope-concerns/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/in-nepal-northernmost-sighting-of-eurasian-otter-raises-hope-concerns/#respond 07 Jun 2025 00:42:43 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300368 - Researchers emphasize the rarity of such sightings in high-altitude, remote areas like Humla, where otters had been considered cryptic or absent for decades.
- The discovery builds on a series of recent sightings across Nepal, including in urbanized Kathmandu Valley, suggesting a wider distribution than previously known.
- Threats to otters include overfishing, poaching, hydropower projects, sand mining and net entanglement, all of which imperil not just the Eurasian otter but also Nepal’s two other otter species.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/in-nepal-northernmost-sighting-of-eurasian-otter-raises-hope-concerns/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300368 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/study-shows-vietnams-ethnic-communities-grapple-with-hydropower-plant-impacts/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/study-shows-vietnams-ethnic-communities-grapple-with-hydropower-plant-impacts/#respond 05 Jun 2025 08:17:05 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299835 - With an increase in small hydropower projects, residents of Bien La commune report loss of farmlands, fishing, local jobs and culture, as well as insufficient compensation.
- While these impacts force the villagers to migrate to other districts in search of jobs, the community women try to revive their culture of traditional textiles and indigo dyeing to preserve their way of life.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/study-shows-vietnams-ethnic-communities-grapple-with-hydropower-plant-impacts/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299835 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/report-urges-stricter-mining-standards-to-manage-climate-and-social-impacts/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/report-urges-stricter-mining-standards-to-manage-climate-and-social-impacts/#respond 09 May 2025 13:30:30 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=298861 - Mining for transition minerals can in some cases exacerbate the impacts of climate change on ecosystems and local communities in the states of Pará, Minas Gerais, Goiás and Bahia.
- Researchers told Mongabay that without better socioenvironmental safeguards, the expansion of transition minerals mining represents a “major” threat to these communities’ way of life and the preservation of ecosystems.
- The report urged governments and companies to implement stronger policy frameworks, climate adaptation strategies, robust oversight and better mechanisms to involve rights-holders in key decisions.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/report-urges-stricter-mining-standards-to-manage-climate-and-social-impacts/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-298861