Mega Dams and Other Infrastructure

Industrial operations require a vast network of infrastructure: roads, ports, waterways, railways, etc. They cut through forests and communities’ territories in order to transport commodities and minerals to industrial centres. Mega dams, although said to provide “clean energy,” flood forests and generate energy primarily for polluting industries and large urban centres.

Community of Caisán (Photo: Jonathan Gonzalez)

Bulletin articles 24 June 2025

Panama: The community of Caisán: for 'free rivers' and community-based energy

Our community of Caisán, in Panama, is living proof that it is possible to stand up to an exclusionary hydroelectric development model and its harmful impacts. Through community organizing, we stopped the construction of hydroelectric dams that were being promoted as part of the Plan Puebla Panama – one of the largest development and integration projects of Latin America. Today, we are moving forward with the construction of a fair and community-based energy model.

Bulletin articles 23 April 2025

Thailand: Big hydroelectric power plants are not clean energy! Communities in struggle against dams exchange experiences and issue joint declaration

A new wave of expansion in hydroelectric power plant projects is advancing throughout the Global South under the pretext of producing 'clean energy', speed up the 'energy transition' and promote a 'low carbon economy'. On March 14, a group of communities issued a joint declaration denouncing the trail of destruction that major dams have left in their wake worldwide, rejecting further dam construction and shouting out, loud and clear: big hydroelectric power plants are not clean energy!

Bulletin articles 16 June 2022

“Energy Trade or Our Life”: The Struggle Against the Dams in the Mekong River Mainstream

The nearly 5,000 km. of the Mekong River, which crosses six countries and sustains the lives and livelihoods of millions, is under severe threat due to the on-going construction of large scale dams. Communities are resisting what could be the final struggle to save some of the remaining parts of the River… of their lives.

Bulletin articles 14 May 2020

Panama: Other Perspectives on “Doing Conservation”

The indigenous Ngäbe-Buglé people had to endure brutal repression to avoid the onslaught on their territories. They managed to get the Government to ban mining and hydroelectric dams in their territory. However, another intense onslaught came from conservationist NGOs.