[STATEMENT] Defend Life! Defend River Defenders!

Across the Asia-Pacific region, rivers that sustain ecosystems, cultures, and livelihoods are increasingly under threat from large-scale infrastructure projects. As we commemorate today’s International Day of Action for Rivers, the Asia Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders also celebrates the important work of our fellow defenders defending their rivers, lives, and rights. 

Environmental defenders who stand for rivers face immense danger. Research [4] has shown that large dam projects are frequently associated with heightened social conflict, particularly where communities are displaced or their rights are ignored. Despite these threats, Indigenous peoples and river defenders across the Asia Pacific continue to assert their right to protect their lands, waters, and ways of life. 

Across the region, environmental defenders, particularly Indigenous peoples and local riverine communities, are rising to protect their rivers despite growing risks of intimidation, criminalization, and violence. In the Philippines, the Jalaur Mega Dam [1] continues to threaten the ancestral lands and livelihoods of the Tumandok Indigenous people, who have long resisted the project. Tumandok communities have warned of flooding, displacement, and irreversible damage to the river ecosystem, but their resistance has been met with militarization and deadly attacks against Indigenous leaders opposing the dam. 

Similar struggles unfold across the Mekong River basin [2], where cascading hydropower dams, particularly upstream, are disrupting the natural flow of one of the world’s most productive river systems. These projects endanger fisheries, food security, and the livelihoods of millions across mainland Southeast Asia. In India, communities along the Tarali River likewise confront development projects that threaten to submerge farmlands and disrupt fragile river ecosystems [3].

These conflicts reveal a deeper systemic problem. Large dams and hydropower projects are increasingly promoted as part of the renewable energy transition, despite replicating the same destructive patterns of displacement, ecological damage, and exclusion of affected communities from decision-making. A genuine transition to sustainable energy cannot sacrifice rivers and communities under the banner of “green development.” It must be people-centered and grounded in respect for ecosystems, livelihoods, and Indigenous rights. 

APNED believes that rivers, which are central to the life, livelihoods, and culture of many communities all over the world, must be protected, and that those who uphold that protection, even amongst attacks and threats from governments and corporations, deserve recognition and protection as well.