Free-flowing rivers in Central Asia

Excessive water infrastructure development and associated water consumption have led to the Aral Sea cCrisis, arguably one of the most profound human-made environmental disasters of the twentieth century. While the middle and lower stretches of the two major Central Asian rivers, Amu Darya and Syr Darya, are significantly disrupted, many of their mountain tributaries were left untouched during the Soviet era. 

Since 2005, Rivers without Boundaries has identified over 150 international investment projects in the hydropower sector, either undertaken or planned. Regrettably, small-scale hydropower developments, supported by domestic investment, are actively encouraged in most Central Asian countries alongside large dams. Given the considerable number of planned and existing projects, basin-wide assessments of their impacts on biodiversity are crucial for developing strategies that prevent irreparable damage to natural ecosystems, Key Biodiversity Areas, and biodiversity corridors.

Explore the online GIS map here: https://arcg.is/0fDfGP0 .

Civil society organisations and scientists have joined forces to develop a comprehensive map of the key rivers and lakes in Central Asia. These key rivers should be included in, and protected as part of, the Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) Programme, an international network of the most important places in the world for species and their habitats. Additionally, the key rivers should also be conserved or restored as free-flowing rivers. Projects, like hydropower plants, should not be built if they might impact these water bodies.

The process of developing the map involved the following steps:

• Collecting information on existing and planned hydropower and water infrastructure projects, and creating an open-access database.
• Developing a multi-criteria GIS model to evaluate potential impacts on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems based on dam location, inundated areas, river fragmentation, potential seasonal changes, and reduction in river flows. 
• Identifying 50 endemic and threatened fish species representing the key known freshwater biodiversity values in the region, and gathering available records on the locations of these fish populations from the literature and the expert community.
• Consulting with experts on water resource management, aquatic biodiversity, nature conservation management, and local livelihoods dependent on natural resources, as well as assessing the potential impacts of each large water infrastructure project on biodiversity.
• Mapping river sub-basins with low levels of anthropogenic transformation and/or high biodiversity value, marking them as priorities for further comprehensive conservation efforts.

Download the toolkit in English or Russian

Bankwatch and Rivers without Boundaries have produced a toolkit aimed primarily at civil society organisations working to challenge the construction of dams and other unsustainable water infrastructure. It focuses on Central Asia, a region where numerous highly problematic dam projects are still planned. As the region lacks an established culture of public consultation and participation in decision-making, concerned activists and members of civil society must reach out to as wide a range of stakeholders as possible, including international institutions, to ensure their voices are heard.

One route that has proven crucial in dam-related campaigns in various parts of the world is engaging with project financiers, particularly multilateral development banks. However, communicating with these institutions is far from intuitive due to their complex systems of standards, document types, procedures and endless acronyms. To ease the burden, this toolkit is designed to help civil society organisations engage with financiers or potential financiers of harmful infrastructure projects, particularly those with major impacts on rivers, such as hydropower projects.

The toolkit covers the following international financial institutions: 

• The European Investment Bank (EIB) 
• The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
• The World Bank Group 
• The Asian Development Bank (ADB)
• The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) 
• The Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank or CHEXIM) 
• The China Development Bank (CDB)