Category: <span>World Heritage Convention</span>

Natural Heritage Receives a Major Blow as the Selous Game Reserve is Discussed at Fuzhou Session of the World Heritage Convention Committee

On July 19th, the majority of the World Heritage Committee Members refuted the World Heritage Centre’s recommendation to de-list the property damaged severely and deliberately by construction of a hydropower reservoir on the Rufiji River. Instead many of them congratulated the State Party of Tanzania for its relentless efforts in …

Luang Prabang – World Heritage Sandwiched Between Dams

Commentary to Mongabay by Gary Lee | Sarinee Achavanuntakul | Eugene Simonov This month’s World Heritage meeting represents a critical opportunity for the UNESCO World Heritage Committee (WHC) to protect rivers and the World Heritage sites and cultures that depend on them. The WHC is charged with protecting sites around …

Mesopotamia Marshes and Cultural Heritage of Iraq Threatened by the Makhoul Dam

Hydro-engineering war against nature and people has further escalated in the Tigris River Basin. In 2020 Turkey completed infamous Ilisu Hydropower project (see “Test killing” of Tigris River by Turkish Authorities Has Started ), while in early 2021 Iran diverted part of Lesser Zab River to replenish Urmia Lake (see …

Water transfers fuel corruption and environmental degradation in Iran – a Statement Issued by Iranian Civil Society

Iranian Environmentalists Mark International Day Against Water Transfer 17 April 2021 By the People’s Campaign to Save the Kind Zagros, supporter of Save the Tigris Campaign Iranian environmentalists annually celebrate the International Day Against Water Transfer on 17 April, or 28 Favardin, according to the Persian calendar. Water transfers between …

Pressure on Lake Baikal from Tourism and Corruption

The shore of Siberia’s Lake Baikal that has seen the building of most hotels is now covered by algae caused by releasing untreated waste into the water. Every wave brings more algae [Image by: Vitaliy Ryabtsev] After the closure of the Baikal cellulose-paper industrial complex in 2013, the main cause …

The “Blue Horse” – Mongolia’s Hydro-engineering Program Tramples on the World Heritage and Ramsar Wetlands, International Conference Warns

In many transboundary basins of the World the lack of joint plans of shared basin management based on the latest environmental and hydrological research prompts riparian countries to unilateral actions for water accumulation and use within their respective boundaries, while ignoring environmental consequences of such practice. The countries often present …