In early April 2004 the opposition to the Nu River dam project scored a major victory: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao ordered the project’s “suspension.” Premier Wen went on the record to state that he was concerned that the dam project had become too controversial, although he made no mention of the work of activist groups in China and Southeast Asia or the protest letter submitted by various NGOs. He called for a more extensive investigative study of the dam project and more involvement by the scientific and environmental communities. Several Global Greengrants-funded NGOs in China, including Green Earth Volunteers (GEV) and Green Watershed, were vital members of the public movement against the project. Although the controversial project remains on hold for now, preliminary work and government statements about rejuvenating parts of the project have become reasons for concern.
Background: The Nu River Dam Project
The Nu River Dam project involves plans to place up to 13 hydroelectric dams along one of the last free-flowing international rivers in Asia, the Nujiang (Nu). Located in China’s rugged and diverse southwestern corner, the Nu flows 1,750 miles from its headwaters in the high mountains of Tibet, through the “China’s Grand Canyon” in Yunnan province and on into Myanmar (Burma) and northern Thailand, where it is known as the Salween River.
Part of the Three Parallel Rivers World Heritage Site, the Nu is home to over 6,000 different plant species and is believed to support up to 50% of China’s animal species. The area is also home to dozens of indigenous communities, including members of the Nu Zu (whose 25,000 population lives entirely within the 400 kilometer corridor where nine dams are proposed), Li Zu, Drung, Pumi, Tibetan, Yi, and Bai peoples. Up to 50,000 members of these communities could be displaced by the proposed dam project.
Local populations aren’t the only ones opposed to the Nu River dam project. Peoples of downstream nations have also objected to the plans, fearing the disastrous effects that upstream dams could have on local economies and ecosystems and citing problems that other Chinese dams have caused in South East Asia. In 1996, government officials in Cambodia began to complain to China that dam projects on the Mekong River in Yunnan were decreasing the flow of water into the Tonle Sap lake, the lifeblood of Cambodia. Later that year, the Vietnamese government complained that these projects threatened to reduce water flow to the southern Mekong Delta, on which Vietnam relies for 60% of its agricultural output. An often-quoted report by the World Commission on Dams in 2000 stated that, “Large dams have led to the loss of aquatic biodiversity, of upstream and downstream fisheries, and of the services of downstream floodplains.”
Supporters of the Nu dam project have cited a huge boost in income for local economies, not to mention the massive amounts of “clean” electricity it will bring to the area and China’s rapidly growing industrial sector. An article published by the Southeast Asia Rivers Network stated that a series of hydroelectric dams along the Nu could potentially produce up to 36.4 million kW of electricity and, according to the Nu River Strategic Committee Office, increase the annual income of the local administration by about $326 million and the revenue of the local government in Canton by about $121 million. However, much of that benefit will most likely be seen by the electric and construction companies and not by the local populations most affected by the project.
The Role of Environmental Groups
Chinese environmental organizations have been an important and powerful force opposing the Nu River dam project, and Global Greengrants Fund has been proud to help support some of their efforts. Green Earth Volunteers, in particular, has been pivotal in drumming up public opposition to the dam project. Founded by the near-legendary Wang Yongchen – recipient of the 2004 Condé Nast Traveler Environmental Award – GEV strives to promote environmental education and to raise public awareness about environmental issues in order to encourage more direct citizen participation. In late 2004, a GGF grant of $3,000 allowed GEV to organize with other Chinese NGOs, journalists and academics to support integrated watershed management of the Nu and Jinsha Rivers. Specific activities included public awareness building, networking and advocacy activities designed to support socially and environmentally responsible river basin development.
Another organization that GGF has been proud to support is Green Watershed, which focuses on integrated watershed management in western China. A 2003 Greengrants grant of $4,000 allowed Green Watershed to host a trip for Chinese environmental journalists to the Nu River to write about its unique nature and culture and the significant negative impacts dam construction would have on the entire area. Specifically, the grant was used for communicating with Chinese media organizations and covering the traveling expenses of the guests and Green Watershed staff. In February of 2004, 20 journalists, environmental protection volunteers, and conservation scholars from Beijing embarked on the tour. For nine days they traveled along the Nu, held meetings with local officials, collected stories from village residents about their fears and anxieties concerning the dam construction (which mainly concerned issues of relocation), took photographs and recorded video. Upon returning to Beijing they originally decided to plan a large educational exhibition, but cancelled the event under government pressure. Instead, they created a web site, http://www.nujiang.ngo.cn.
Another GGF grant, of $2,000 in 2004, supported the attendance by Green Watershed members at a symposium on hydropower and sustainable development organized by the UN, World Bank, and Chinese government. The purpose of the symposium was to bring together stakeholders from government, industry, academia and NGOs to discuss the role of hydropower in sustainable development and discuss future plans for China.
Prospects for the Future
Since Premier Wens’ announcement, the leaders of Yunnan Provincial Hydro-Power have again discussed developing hydroelectric power in the Three Parallel Rivers (the Yangtze, Lancang, and the Nu) within the next ten years. According to the Nujiang River Preservation Project, reports from the meeting indicate that the government seeks to develop 450 billion kW of electricity to soften the energy crisis that they claim is the bottle neck for local economic development. The reports also claim the dams will help eradicate the poverty in these areas and promote environmental protection. No report was made about the dislocation of 50,000 inhabitants of the Nu river corridor.
The Nu hydropower cascade is currently being reassessed by the government, which is likely to make a decision on the entire 13-dam cascade within the next year. Meanwhile, preliminary work is proceeding including geological surveys and construction of access roads that are scarring the hillsides. At the National People’s Congress in Beijing in March 2005, Minister of Water Resources Wang Shucheng said four dams would go ahead, starting with the Liuku project.
GGF will continue to support Chinese NGOs in their efforts to oppose the construction of large environmentally, economically, and culturally damaging dam projects, and on other environmental campaigns as well.
For more background on the Nu River, check the International Rivers Network (IRN) website or the article “Damming the Angry River,” by Ralph Litzinger in the Autumn 2004 issue of China Review Magazine.