Large rivers without dams and other water infrastructure will receive additional protection from hydropower development: thanks to the efforts of the international non-governmental organizations including our Coalition, Rivers without Boundaries, the Asian Development Bank has just included in its new Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) the “free-flowing rivers” as a designation of water bodies of special ecological value not to be harmed by infrastructure projects.
Large free-flowing rivers that are not transformed by human activity are some of the rarest and most vulnerable ecosystems in the world, disappearing three times faster than primary forests. Today, river damming has become so common that worldwide, only 21 rivers over 1,000 kilometers long remain un-dammed, maintaining their connection to the sea. As soon as a dam blocks a river, the most important processes are disrupted: sediment transport, flow regime, fish migration – leading to the degradation of river ecosystems.
Therefore, the designation of special water bodies called “free flowing rivers” (FFR) became one of the key issues in the discussion on the Biodiversity Standard in the new ADB’s social and environmental policy. The environmental coalition Rivers without Boundaries, along with its US counterparts International Rivers and Friends of the Earth US, even produced a special handbook for development banks last year, “Free-flowing rivers: Protecting biodiversity from harmful financing” as a part of their common “Banks and Biodiversity” Campaign.
As a result, ADB agreed to recognize the ecological value of “free-flowing rivers” when deciding on project financing, albeit with some reservations. For example, bankers are only willing to commit to preserving a “free-flowing” river if its length is at least 500 kilometers. It is much better than nothing, but definitely not enough for protecting freshwater ecosystems of the Asian continent. For example, in Central Asia, only one river still falls under this criterion – the Panj (source of Amu Darya) on the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan. All other long rivers have already been fragmented by dams.
“In the long term, the Panj River needs protection from unwise investments,” says Eugene Simonov, international coordinator of the Rivers without Boundaries International Coalition. – For example, after the completion of the Rogun hydropower plant in Tajikistan and the creation of the Qosh-Tepa canal in Afghanistan, World Bank experts recommend building large flow-regulation reservoirs on the free-flowing Panj to save the lower reaches of the Amu Darya, threatened by large hydro projects, from possible water shortages.”
“I hope that other international financial institutions will follow the Asian Development Bank’s example,” said Alexander Kolotov, Rivers without Boundaries’ regional director for Central Asia. – We have already brought to the attention of the directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development the need for special protection of free-flowing rivers, and we will continue this process for other development banks, including Chinese policy banks.
The new Asian Development Bank’s Environmental and Social Framework (ESF), which pays special attention to free-flowing rivers, will come into effect on January 1, 2026.
Source: https://rivers.help/n/4041