Free-flowing riversEconomic luxury or ecological necessity?

Summary

Wild rivers are earth’s renegades,defying gravity, dancing to theirown tunes, resisting the authorityof humans, always chipping away,and eventually always winning.

Richard Bangs, River Gods

Free-flowing rivers – Economic luxury or ecological necessity?

Contents

1 Introduction1 What is a free-flowing river?2 The functions of free-flowing rivers3 The state of the world’s longest rivers6 Case studies – Madeira, Gambia & Salween8 Protecting free-flowing rivers9 River protection vs. River development10 Conclusions11 Recommendations12 Appendix 1: List of free-flowing rivers

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Introduction

The history of human civilisation is inextricablylinked to the world’s rivers. Many of the world’sancient societies developed alongside major rivers.But the importance of rivers for humandevelopment has brought with it pollution,degradation and overexploitation. Rivers have beendiverted for agricultural irrigation, straightened tofacilitate navigation and dammed for hydropower.The growing world population and changes inlifestyle have put more and more demands on riversand their watersheds, today leaving very fewsystems in a natural state.

The report “Free-flowing rivers – Economic luxury or ecological necessity” assesses the state of theworld’s remaining free-flowing rivers and seeks toanswer the question why we should maintain ourlast free-flowing rivers and whether this is a luxuryor a necessity. It shows that few rivers remain free-flowing and a concerted effort for their conservationis urgently needed. WWF calls on governments toidentify those free-flowing rivers that are ecologicallyimportant and that provide important services topeople and to safeguard these rivers from beingdeveloped. WWF calls for the immediate protectionof a number of rivers, including the Amur, theSalween, the Chishuihe and the Amazon.

What is a free-flowing river?

WWF defines a free-flowing river as any river that flowsundisturbed from its source to its mouth, at either thecoast, an inland sea or at the confluence with a largerriver, without encountering any dams, weirs or barragesand without being hemmed in by dykes or levees. Intoday’s world such rivers, particularly those that run over long distances, are increasingly rare. In large riversystems distinct stretches of rivers can retaincharacteristics of a free-flowing river, despite thepresence of water infrastructure upstream ordownstream of this stretch.

Rivers have formed over a long time and continue toevolve because of their dynamic nature. Human activitiesaccelerate and redirect these processes of change inmany different ways, indirectly through anthropogenicstressors such as global warming or directly by interferingin the physical, geo-morphological characteristics of ariver. Two key influences on river flow from source tomouth are:

a) flow modification structures, such as dams, weirs andbarrages, for hydropower production, water supplyand irrigation and flood control

b) channel modification: the dredging and straighteningof rivers for navigation purposes.

These modifications affect one or more of the spatialdimensions of rivers. Flow modification structuresinterrupt the longitudinal connectivity of rivers as well asaffect groundwater tables or seasonal flooding patterns(lateral dimension). Channel modification can affectflooding patterns as well as the variations in river depths.This report considers whole rivers, from source to mouth,with as key parameter the absence of large dams1 overthe entire length of the river from source to either theriver mouth or confluence with a larger river.

1The International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) defines a large dam as15 metres or higher. Dams between 5 and 15 metres with a reservoir volume ofmore than 3 million cubic metres are also classified as large dams.

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1 & 2 A free-flowing river is a river that flows undisturbed from itssource to its mouth, at either the confluence with a larger river,inland sea or at the coast.

3 An example of channel modification – a canalised section of theSão João River in Brazil

4 The Petit Saut Dam in French Guiana not only interrupts the flowof the river but is flooding 300 square km of forests.

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Clockwise from top left: © WWF-Canon/André BÄRTSCHI; © WWF-Canon/JohnRATCLIFFE; © WWF-Canon/Michel GUNTHER; © WWF-Canon / Edward PARKER

The functions of free-flowing rivers and the impacts of damming them up

Although freshwater ecosystems occupy less than oneper cent of the world’s surface, they make some of thelargest contributions of all ecosystems to human welfare.Freshwater is necessary for drinking, hygiene andagriculture, whilst fish and fishery products areparticularly important in developing countries. Many ofthese provisioning services can be maintained to someextent in modified rivers, and people often rely on damsto provide that service. The key benefit derived from free-flowing rivers over dammed rivers is food supply. Damsalter river ecosystems and in many cases will impactnegatively on the fish species native to the river. Thisdirectly affects fisheries productivity both upstream anddownstream of the dam. Floodplains are importantfeeding and spawning ground for fish, but by replacingseasonal flow patterns with a year round steady outflow,floodplains can no longer perform this function. Examplesof a decline in the fisheries production of native speciesaround the world are numerous and the impacts onmigratory species in particular can be devastating.

The provisioning services of rivers for water, food andenergy, have long been acknowledged, but recognition ofother, equally important, services has grown. Regulatingservices of freshwater systems include water purification,flood mitigation and sediment deposition and free-flowingrivers play an important part in the global water cycle.Rivers contribute to pollution control by transport andremoval of pollutants and excess nutrients. This capacityis reduced because of dams, as pollutants get trappedbehind dams through accumulation of sediment and thiscan pose a hazard when the lifespan of a dam comes toan end. Furthermore, rivers also play an important role inthe transport of sediment, as illustrated by the events inNew Orleans following hurricane Katrina in 2005. Coastalwetlands, marshes and islands used to provideprotection from storm surges, but since the 1930s thewetlands have been steadily eroded by the sea. A majorcontributing factor to this erosion was the extensivemodification of the Missouri and upper Mississippiwatershed, with sediments trapped by large dams andthe extensive levee systems on the lower Mississippichannelling remaining sediments too far into the Gulf ofMexico to replenish the delta’s coast.

Free-flowing rivers also have a cultural importance. Theyprovide aesthetic values, literary imagery and areimportant religiously and spiritually. Many tribal peoplehave close relationships with rivers. The Maori in NewZealand for example attribute losses in the healing powerof a river to the construction of dams upstream. Free-flowing rivers provide important recreational services,varying from salmon fishing to white water rafting, andare valuable for educational purposes.

Finally, the supporting services provided by rivers andstreams are crucial as they provide the basis for all other benefits gained from the river. It is these services,particularly biodiversity and habitat provision, which areoften most affected by dams and water infrastructure, butthe effects of their loss on people are not immediatelyapparent. River modification affects the pattern of flowsand particularly reduces the occurrence of large floods in rivers subject to strong wet and dry season patterns,whereas it is the natural variability in water flows thatsustains freshwater flora and fauna. The impacts of thesemodifications are far reaching as fish life cycles andsediment and nutrient transport functions are disturbed.

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The degree to which river modification disrupts theservices provided by free-flowing rivers depends to someextent on the siting of the dam. There are no hard rulesabout what ecologically constitutes the least damagingsite for a dam and the level of damage depends on thepresence of other dams in the basin. In general damswith the least impacts are those that: cause the leastinterruption to natural river flows; keep a river’s mainstem free-flowing; inundate the smallest possible area;and are sited on tributaries in the headwaters that controlonly a small part of the inflows into the river’s main stem.

Several sources, including the Millennium EcosystemAssessment and the WWF Living Planet Report, suggestthat freshwater biodiversity is being lost at a faster ratethan any other ecosystem. Globally there is agreementthat these developments are of concern and there are anumber of global commitments specifically targeted atreducing the loss of biodiversity. The Convention onBiological Diversity (CBD) is one of the key fora. Partieshave committed to achieve by 2010 a significantreduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at theglobal, regional and national level as a contribution topoverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on earth.This target was adopted by the 2002 World Summit onSustainable Development.

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The state of the world’s longest rivers

Most people in the world live within reach of a river,stream or creek but there is a lack of data on the exactnumber of rivers worldwide. This report presents ananalysis of river fragmentation on a global scale, basedon individual rivers with a length of more than 1,000kilometres. Data on river fragmentation was obtained bycross referencing 177 rivers longer than 1,000 kmagainst the ICOLD World Register of Dams. Where ariver was found to have one or more dams on the mainstem it was classified as fragmented.

The analysis shows that globally out of 177 rivers longerthan 1,000 km, only 64 rivers (less than 40 per cent) arestill free-flowing. Figure 1 shows the regional distributionof all large rivers (whether dammed or free-flowing) andthe regional distribution of large free-flowing rivers, as apercentage of all rivers over 1,000 km long.

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1 Free-flowing rivers supportfisheries that are vital to thesurvival of many of theworlds’ poorest people.

2 Maori culture is closelylinked to free-flowing rivers

3 free-flowing rivers carrythe sediments needed tosustain coastal estuariesand mangroves.

Left to right: © WWF-Canon / Roger LE GUEN; © WWF-Canon/Stéphane MAURIS; © WWF-Canon / Roger LE GUEN

Figure 1: Regional distribution of rivers longer than 1,000 kmand percentage of rivers remaining free-flowing

The figure shows that most large rivers are found in Asia,followed by South and North America. Australia/Pacifichas the fewest large rivers with three out of seven, theCooper Creek, Sepik and Fly rivers, remaining free-flowing.

Europe, including areas west of the Ural, has relatively fewlarge rivers and has modified almost all of them. Riverssuch as the Danube, Volga, Rhine and Tagus have beenextensively dammed and modified. Only one of Europe’slarge rivers, the Pechora, remains free-flowing from sourceto sea, running for 1809 km from the Ural Mountains tothe Barents Sea. The Vychegda is an 1130 km tributaryof the Northern Dvina in north-western Russia and threetributaries of the Volga also remain free-flowing.

Asia and South America harbour both the highestnumber of large rivers and the highest number of largefree-flowing rivers. In Asia nearly 40 per cent of largerivers remain free-flowing, mostly located in the north. In South America just over half of the continent’s 37 large rivers remain free-flowing. Most of the remainingfree-flowing rivers are large tributaries of the world’smajor river systems. Rivers within the Amazon systemalone account for 20 per cent of free-flowing rivers over1,000 km. Tributaries in the Lena, Yenisei and Amur riversystems in the far east of Russia account for another 20 per cent of free-flowing rivers.

37% 59 Asia

54% 37 South America

43% 7 Australia/Pacific

28% 18 Europe (west of Ural)

35% 23 Africa

18% 33 North America

Number of large rivers (dammed and free-flowing) Percentage of rivers remaining free-flowing

Of particular concern is the loss of long distanceconnectivity between the sea and inland rivers. Only 21rivers longer than 1,000 km that drain directly into thesea remain undammed (Map 1). Ecologically,fragmentation is a problem as maintaining connectivityon all levels is essential to conserve freshwaterbiodiversity, although the importance of connectionsbetween a rivers’ source and the sea over long distancesis not yet fully understood. The importance of these linksfor migrating fish species are well known, but theunderlying mechanisms of these relations and thedistances over which this connectivity is important are atopic for which scientific research is urgently needed.

An analysis of the rate at which large free-flowing rivershave been lost shows that the decline started in the firsthalf of the 20th century (Figure 2). By 1950 20 per cent ofthe world’s large rivers had been dammed, more than halfof these in North America. The rate of damming increasedrapidly in the 1950s in which decade 18 more free-flowingrivers were dammed for the first time, dominated by damconstruction in Europe and Asia. The sixties and seventiessaw equally large losses of free-flowing rivers, many ofwhich were in Asia but increasingly free-flowing rivers werealso lost in South America. The eighties were the lastdecade with high losses of free-flowing rivers. Twelve largerivers were dammed for the first time, four of which are inAfrica. By 1990 only 68 large rivers were left free-flowing.

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As dam construction slowed at the end of the 20th

century, the rate at which large free-flowing are being losthas stabilized, with only four more free-flowing riversdammed since 1991. But today the demand for dams,either for hydropower or water supply, is on the rise –driven by growing populations and growing demands forwater, food and energy, together with the increasingthreat of climate change. Many of these rivers face acutethreats of being dammed in the near future and WWFestimates that of the world’s remaining 64 large free-flowing rivers at least 17 large free-flowing rivers are indanger of being dammed by 2020. This does not includeany of the large tributaries of the large Siberian riversystems, many of which have a high hydropowerpotential and could be dammed up in the future.Proposals also exist to divert water from some Siberianrivers to water stressed river basins in the south,including the shrinking Aral Sea.

In Africa, on the Gambia River plans are afoot for theSambangalou Dam, whilst on the Rufiji River Stiegler’sGorge has been identified as a potential site for a 1400MW hydropower development. In South America, boththe Amazon and Orinoco basins are subject to plans forhydropower development, although at present theseappear more concentrated on large tributaries ratherthan on the main stem.

Many of the remaining undammed large rivers are situatedin remote areas of the Russian Federation. Until now, the hydropower potential of these rivers has seen littledevelopment, but hydropower development initially in theFar East and the Caucasus, followed by the large Siberianrivers has been recognized by the government as apriority. The growing demand for energy in China is alsolikely to be an incentive for hydropower development onthese rivers. The Aldan River, a major tributary of the Lena,has been identified as having significant hydropowerpotential. The creation of a South Yakutia hydro complexwould contribute to the Far Eastern grid and enableexport to Asia and the Pacific. However, the unfavourableeconomic situation in the region means that in the nearfuture most rivers are likely to remain free-flowing, althoughthese freshwater systems face many other environmentalthreats, including pollution from heavy industry.

Asia (excluding Russia) has four large undammed riversremaining that run from source to sea, most notably theBrahmaputra and Salween rivers Both have their sourceon the Tibetan plateau and run respectively through China,India & Bangladesh and China, Myanmar & Thailand. TheBrahmaputra basin is likely to see heavy development ofhydropower on tributaries in India and Bhutan in the nearfuture, though development on the main stem is at presentunlikely. The Salween however, is under serious threat offragmentation on the main stem, with plans for cascadesof dams on both the Upper Salween (Nujiang) in Chinaand the lower reaches in Myanmar.

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Figure 2: Rates of damming of free flowing rivers

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GambiaA complex of up to six dams is under studyon the Madeira River, including the 3400 MWSanto Antonio and the 3300 MW Jirau projects. Anadditional dam upstream on the Beni River, the 1500 MWEsperanza dam, is also part of the plans. The threat of damsgoes hand in hand with the rapid land use changes that areaffecting the ecology of rivers in the Madeira catchment. Themajor driver is agricultural colonization in the Andean foothillsand uplands, as well as floodplain cattle ranching in easternBolivia, the state of Rondonia in Brazil, and along the AmazonRiver floodplain in Brazil. The dams would flood the Madeirarapids and open up the river to navigation, facilitating thetransport of soybean crops along the river.

The proposed dams would also modify the seasonal flow and thesediment and nutrient contribution of the river to other freshwaterhabitats downstream. Considering that the Madeira River is themost important sediment supplier in the Amazon River basin, theproposed dams could modify the geomorphology of the floodplainsand extend to the Amazon main stem. The dams are likely to

impact on several of the mostimportant migratory fish species,such as the dourada, a largecatfish that uses the AmazonRiver estuary as its nursery andmigrates to the Andean foothills to spawn.

Madeira River

Catfish catches may be affectedby the proposed dams on theMadeira River.

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Map 1: Large free-flowing riversfrom source to sea

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Hydropower development alongthe Salween is not new, but untilnow has been confined to smaller-scale plants on its tributaries. Nowplans for large scale developmentof the main stem of the river aremoving ahead in both China andMyanmar. In China plans exist for

a cascade of 13 damson the upper Salween River, with a total capacity of21,320 MW and involving the resettlement of up to50,000 people.

Hydropower development on the Myanmar stretch ofthe Salween involve plans for two dams at Tasang andseveral dams in the lower reaches of the river,

relatively close to its estuary. The Hat Gyi Dam isplanned as the first of a series of dams on the

lower Salween that would be developedtogether with neighbouring Thailand.

The construction of up to 20 largedams will have a devastatingimpact on the ecological balanceof this river, losing the naturalconnection between Tibetan

plateau, South West China andAndaman Sea. The upper reaches of theSalween, known as the Nujiang in China,are just being discovered as a site forwhite water rafting and there is goodpotential for other forms of ecotourism inthe region, including nature tours, cyclingand trekking. Whilst it is unlikely thatthese kinds of industries will bring insimilar amounts of money as the dams,combined with sensitive development of the hydropower potential of the Nutributaries it could offer a sustainablealternative.

Salween

A cascade of 13 dams isplanned for the upperSalween River

The Gambia is one of the last remaininglarge free-flowing river in Africa, but the upperstretches of the river have been earmarked for

hydropower development. The 120 MWSambangalou scheme in Senegal, just upstreamfrom Niokolo-Koba and close to the Guinean

border is currently under preparation. Thereservoir threatens to flood a recently

designated Ramsar site in Guinea, Oundou-Liti,which in addition to important biodiversity valueshas a high potential for tourism that to date remainsunexploited. Most environmental concerns however centre on theimpacts the dam may have on the Gambia estuary and lowerstretches of the river and there are fears that there may be similarimpacts as happened after construction of dams on the nearbySenegal River, which resulted in degradation of the floodplainecosystems and increases in water borne diseases.

Gambia

Fisheries off the coasts of Gambia and Senegal are linked to theinflow of freshwater from the Gambia and Senegal rivers.

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Protecting free-flowing rivers

The value of free-flowing rivers has increasingly beenrecognized and a number of protection mechanismshave been applied in different countries. In the UnitedStates and Canada whole rivers can be protected underthe ‘Wild and Scenic Rivers Act’ and the ‘CanadianHeritage River System’ respectively. Both systems alsoallow protection of stretches of a river where it maintainsa free-flowing character. So for example in the US, a 53mile section of the Rio Grande – a river that is heavilymodified and sometimes even fails to reach the sea – wasdesignated as a wild river area when the Act was passed.

Australia has similar legislation in a number of states,including the Victoria Heritage Rivers Act 1992 whichidentifies 18 Heritage River Areas which have significantrecreation, nature conservation, scenic or culturalheritage attributes. A different type of protectionmechanism is in place on the Paroo River in Queenslandand New South Wales, which supports extensivewetlands all along its length. The river is protected underthe Paroo River Agreement, a non-legislative agreementbetween the two state governments signed in July 2003,which has a heavy focus on conserving the ecologicaland cultural values of the river.

The number of specific conservation mechanisms aimedat whole rivers is limited, and many rivers or parts of riversare protected under other conservation mechanisms.Protected areas are considered to be the most effectiveway of preserving biological diversity and most countries inthe world have established or planned a national system ofprotected areas. Internationally, under the Convention onBiological Diversity (CBD) all governments are committedto establishing and effectively managing representativeprotected areas systems, including for inland waters, by2010. The CBD suggests that parties take urgent action to address the under-representation of marine and inlandwater ecosystems in existing national and regionalsystems of protected areas.

There is also the 1972 World Heritage Convention whichlinks the protection of cultural and natural heritage.Experience with protection for free-flowing rivers throughdesignation as a World Heritage Site is mixed. In 1983,World Heritage status was an important tool in protectingthe Franklin River in Tasmania from damming. However,currently the World Heritage status of the Three ParallelRivers in China appears to offer the Salween littleprotection from development.

One international treaty with a strong freshwater focus isthe Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Signed in 1971this intergovernmental treaty provides the framework fornational action and international cooperation for theconservation and wise use of wetlands and theirresources. The Ramsar Convention does notautomatically protect wetlands from the impacts of damprojects, but the requirement to maintain a certain‘ecological character’ of Ramsar sites, and for the ‘wiseuse’ of all wetlands, including rivers, places an obligationon governments to minimize the impacts of rivermodification on all wetlands.

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1 Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park in Tasmania. World Heritage status helped to protect the Franklin River from being dammed.

2 Dams can bring substantial benefits, including hydro-electricity, water supply and irrigation.

3 WWF is working to identify tributaries of the Mekong Riverthat should be awarded protection from dam development.

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River protection vs. River development

As shown above, measures are available to protect free-flowing rivers, but it is telling that measures awardingprotection to whole rivers are currently limited to developedcountries, where water resources have often already beenover-exploited. Most remaining free-flowing rivers are foundin developing countries, where there remain some toughchoices to be made regarding river protection and riverdevelopment. The reality is that many rivers in thedeveloping world will continue to be modified to providewater, food and energy where it is desperately needed.

In WWF’s view a different approach to free-flowing riversis needed in developing countries, aimed at balancingthe need for developing rivers for energy and watersupply and the importance of preserving free-flowingrivers for biodiversity and livelihoods.

The first step in such an approach should be theidentification of remaining free-flowing rivers within acountry or river basin. An analysis of the biodiversity andconservation values of these rivers, as well as anassessment of the services provided by these rivers topeople can then be done to identify priority free-flowingrivers for conservation. These rivers should then beearmarked as ‘no-go’ rivers for hydropower

development, large scale irrigation or channelisation. It isimportant that this process also involves major stretchesof rivers that have already been dammed, but that stillretain valuable characteristics of a free-flowing river.

Development of water infrastructure on non-priority riverscould then be considered in accordance with thestrategic priorities of the World Commission on Dams.This would involve a comprehensive needs & optionsassessment, an evaluation of the cumulative impacts ofdams within the same basin and the implementation ofadequate environmental mitigation measures.

WWF is pioneering this approach in the Mekong Riverbasin where we have identified large scale infrastructure,and particularly hydropower dams, as the single majorthreat to the aquatic biodiversity of the basin. WWF isengaging with key partners, such as the Mekong RiverCommission and Asian Development Bank, to promote astrategic, basin-wide approach to hydropower planning.One aim is to identify particularly sensitive tributaries forprotection and persuade governments to prioritise damoptions in less environmentally sensitive places.

Left to right: © WWF-Canon / Edward PARKER; © WWF-Canon/Soh Koon CHNG; © WWF-Canon / Elizabeth KEMF

Conclusions

The importance of rivers for people is irrefutable,supplying such resources as irrigation, industrial andhousehold water and fish, waterfowl, and mussels asimportant sources of food. Regulating services offreshwater systems include, amongst many others, waterpurification, flood mitigation and sediment deposition.Finally, freshwater systems offer numerous culturalservices, varying from recreational opportunities toaesthetic and spiritual values.

Throughout history people have sought to optimize thebenefits provided by rivers, and dams and other riverinfrastructure have played an important role in this. Butwith advancing technology the exploitation of rivers hasgrown to such a scale that the capacity of rivers toprovide many important services to people is seriouslydegraded. Today the majority of river systems have beenfragmented and the plight of long rivers in particular is dire.Worldwide only 21 rivers longer than 1,000 km remainthat retain a direct connection from source to sea.

With such pressure to utilize rivers for the benefit ofpeople, and if dammed rivers give us energy, water andfood, why should we retain free-flowing rivers? WWFbelieves that free-flowing rivers should be protected forthe following reasons:

• free-flowing rivers provide important services such assediment and pollution control, the costs of which whenlost do not show up on the balance sheet.

• In recognition of the intrinsic value of biodiversity,freshwater ecosystems and rivers. The importance ofconserving freshwater biodiversity for people andnature has been internationally recognized in severalfora, including the Convention on Biological Diversity(1992) and the Ramsar Convention (1971). Free-flowing rivers are especially important for theconservation of freshwater fish and floodplain forests.

• For scientific reasons, free-flowing rivers should beprotected to increase our understanding of themechanisms of free-flowing rivers over long distancesand the contributions made by these rivers to theglobal ecosystem. With so few major free-flowingrivers now left, we are on the brink of losing anothernatural phenomenon without fully understanding thecosts of these losses.

• The importance of free-flowing rivers to other biomes,particularly to estuaries. The water conditions in riverdeltas and marine coastal zones are dependent onrivers and dams higher up in the watershed cansignificantly damage coastal fisheries.

As this report shows free-flowing rivers have substantialconservation, as well as economic value in the worldtoday, and this is being recognized in many countriesthrough conservation measures that apply to wholerivers. Parts of rivers are also protected under otherconservation measures, but these offer less protectionfor a river from future development.

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Recommendations

WWF recognizes that development of free-flowing riversis driven by peoples’ needs for water supplies andelectricity and as such it accepts that some rivers thatare now still free-flowing will be dammed in the future.However, the evidence of the importance of free-flowingrivers is so overwhelming, that a concerted effort is nowrequired to permanently protect a great many of theworld’s remaining free-flowing rivers.

For these reasons, WWF recommends that:

• Governments, as part of their commitments tosignificantly reducing the rate of loss of biologicaldiversity by 2010, should designate free-flowing riversthat are of high ecological importance or that arerepresentative of certain types of rivers as‘conservation rivers’ that should remain free from rivermodification. Governments should adopt laws andprogrammes to conserve these rivers effectively.

• Countries who share rivers establish common riverbasin conservation and management mechanisms,including conservation of remaining free-flowing rivers.

• In each river basin, one or more tributaries should beprotected as free-flowing to conserve fauna and floraand the ecological processes they depend on. Ideallydams should not be constructed on the main stems ofrivers so as to maintain ecological processes from thesource to the sea. Wherever possible such tributariesshould link to free-flowing main stems to form anunbroken link from source to sea.

• Development of new water infrastructure should follow the recommendations of the World Commission on Dams.

Based on the case studies in this report, WWF calls forthe immediate protection of the following rivers:

• The Chishuihe tributary of the Yangtze River in Chinashould be protected as a free-flowing river to ensurethe survival of species endemic to the Yangtze basinthat are affected by the Three Gorges and other largedam developments;

• The Salween in China and Myanmar is a unique riverlinking the Tibetan plateau to the Andaman Sea over adistance of nearly 3,000 kilometres. Its twin rivers, theYangtze and Mekong, that follow a similar course inthe upper watershed have already been dammed;

• The Mara River in Kenya and Tanzania, where themaintenance of adequate flows is crucial to sustainingwildebeest populations in the Masai Mara andSerengeti National Parks;

• The Amur River main stem and appropriate tributariesin China and Russia;

• The main stem and major tributaries of the AmazonRiver, including the Purus, Xingu and Madeira

Rivers have been dammed too often withoutconsideration of the values and services that are lost. It isnow time to take stock of the free-flowing rivers and takeprotective action to ensure that in twenty years time theworld still has free-flowing rivers. In the words of HalBorland, the American journalist and nature writer:

“Any river is really the summationof the whole valley. To think of itas nothing but water is to ignorethe greater part.”

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Appendix 1: Overview of remaining free-flowing rivers

River (river basin) Length (km) Threat of modification

AfricaKasai (Congo) 2153 yesLomami (Congo) 1500 n/aAruwimi (Congo) 1300 n/aOkavango 1800 yesChari 1400 n/aRufiji 1400 yesGambia 1200 yesShabele 1130 n/a

AsiaAmur 2820 yesArgun (Amur) 1620 yesBrahmaputra 2896 yesLena 4410 n/aAldan (Lena) 2273 YesVitim (Lena) 1978 n/aOlekma (Lena) 1320 n/aMaya (Lena) 1053 n/aAmga (Aldan) 1462 n/aIshim (Ob-Irtysh) 2450 n/aChulym (Ob-Irtysh) 1799 n/aLower Tunguska (Yenisei) 2989 n/aStony Tunguska (Yenisei) 1865 n/aSelenga (Yenisei) 1480 n/aSalween 2820 yesIrrawaddy 2300 yesOlenek 2270 n/aIndigirka 1726 n/aKhatanga 1634 n/aTaz 1400 n/aKerulen / Herlen 1264 n/aAnadyr 1150 yes

Australia / PacificCooper Creek 1420 n/aSepik 1120 n/aFly 1040 n/a

River (river basin) Length (km) Threat of modification

EuropeVychegda (Northern Dvina) 1130 n/aPechora 1809 n/aOka (Volga) 1500 n/aVyatka (Volga) 1370 n/aBelaya (Volga) 1420 n/a

North AmericaMackenzie 5472 n/aAthabasca (Mackenzie) 1231 n/aLiard (Mackenzie) 1115 n/aYellowstone 1080 n/aFraser 1370 n/aKuskokwim 1050 n/a

South AmericaAmazon 6516 n/aMadeira (Amazon) 3239 yesJurua (Amazon) 3000 n/aXingu (Amazon) 2100 yesTapajos (Amazon) 1992 n/aPutumayo / Ica (Amazon) 1575 yesMaranon (Amazon) 1415 n/aMadre de dios (Amazon) 1130 n/aPurus (Amazon) 3379 n/aYapura (Amazon) 2820 n/aUcayali (Amazon) 2738 n/aMamore (Amazon) 1900 n/aBeni (Amazon) 1599 yesHuallaga (Amazon) 1100 n/aIriri (Amazon) 1300 n/aOrinoco 2470 n/aGuaviare (Orinoco) 1497 n/aPilcomayo (Paraguay) 2500 yesParaguay (Parana) 2549 yesAraguaia (Tocantins) 2575 yes

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Left: © WWF-Canon/Martin HARVEY; below: © WWF-Canon / Hartmut JUNGIUS

Clockwise from above: © WWF-Canon / Edward PARKER; © WWF-Canon / Martin HARVEY; © WWF/Martin HARVEY; © WWF-Canon/Michel ROGGO

©1986, WWF – World Wide Fund For Nature (Formally World Wildlife Fund) ®WWF – World Wide Fund For Nature (Formally World Wildlife Fund) Project number 2085/February 2006FRONT COVER PHOTO © WWF-Canon / Kevin SCHAFER International

WWF Global Freshwater ProgrammeP.O.Box 73700AA ZeistNetherlandsT: +31 30 693 7803F: +31 30 691 2064dams@wwf.org.ukwww.panda.org/dams

Free-flowing rivers – Economicluxury or ecological necessity? can be downloaded fromwww.panda.org/dams

The mission of WWF is to stop the degradation of the planet’snatural environment and to build a future in which humans livein harmony with nature, by:· conserving the world’s biological diversity· ensuring that the use of renewable resources is sustainable· promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful

consumption

PHOTOS (clockwise from left): © WWF-Canon / André BARTSCHI; © WWF-Canon / Tanya PETERSEN; © WWF-Canon / Elizabeth KEMF