In pictures: A river runs through it. Go with the flow on World Rivers Day

Posted by Angela Glienicke — 25 September 2015 at 3:16pm - Comments
All rights reserved. Credit: © Paul Hilton / Greenpeace
Trees and ferns line the Bairaman river and surrounding forest in West Pomio district.

This Sunday people from more than 60 countries celebrate World Rivers Day by taking part in various activities like festivals, river clean ups and habitat restoration to increase public awareness about the many values of rivers and the threats they face.

<--break->Our collection of images can only give a glimpse of the beauty and many stories connected to rivers that play such an important part in our lives, like ice fishing in Ukraine or floating markets in Kalimantan.

Sadly in some cases though, the waterways turn into public sewers with industries pumping hazardous substances into them and the impact of climate change on water resources can be seen in places like Brazil. Join the movement to protect our planet: https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/page/s/join-the-movement-now

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A woman clears weeds from her rice paddy on the banks of the Indragiri Hulu river in Kuala Cenaku, Riau.

© Kemal Jufri / Greenpeace 2013

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Children by the Citarum River, West Java Province.

© Yudhi  Mahatma / Greenpeace 2012

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Community members sell their local products at a floating market in the Martapura river. Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan.

© Ulet  Ifansasti / Greenpeace 2012

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A fisherman lays his caught fish to dry under the sun. The fish come from the river basin which is the main source for thousand of people living along the river. 

Now the river is threatened by Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand's (EGAT) plans to build a coal-fired power plant in the area.  The community relies on rich but fragile natural resources, which are threatened by the proposed plant. 

© Jonas Gratzer / Greenpeace 2012

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View of the mouth of the Bairaman river, where it meets the sea in East New Britain province. The river flows through Papua New Guinea's forests which are the third largest, and some of the most diverse, on Earth.

© Paul Hilton / Greenpeace 2011

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Clearwater fish in the Rio da Plata, Mato Grosso do Sul, Bonito, Brazil.

© Markus Mauthe / Greenpeace 2012

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A river that supplies a water reservoir flows again in its natural course. 

Greenpeace carries out an expedition to the main surface water sources in the south east region of Brazil, where millions of people are threatened by water shortage since 2014, to highlight the connection between deforestation and the water crisis.

© Gabriel Lindoso / Greenpeace 2015

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Tropical Amazon Rainforest, Rio Negro.

© Markus Mauthe / Greenpeace 2012

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The Tullahan River (running between the cities of Caloocan and Valenzuela) turns pink and purple as foam from unknown source covers part of the river. Residents along Tullahan river have noted a multi-coloured effluent in the river water, rocks and banks.  Several industries, such as paper, pen and dye factories, are located upstream from this site.

© Gigie Cruz-Sy / Greenpeace 2012

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Sulphate from the open pit mining pollutes the drinking water in Berlin. Greenpeace activists take water samples that will be analysed in a laboratory for the presence of sulphate. 

© Gordon Welters / Greenpeace 2015

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A fisherman on the Yangtze river. Due to the highly polluted wastewater discharged by the surrounding factories, the amount of fish caught in the river has dramatically decreased.

© Lu Guang / Greenpeace 2010

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Men fishing in the icy river Dnepr in Kiev.

© Jan Grarup / Noor / Greenpeace 2011

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Morris Lawson stands along the Dan River in Danville, about 20 miles down river from the Dan River Steam Station, where toxic coal ash leaked from a retaining pond at a retired Duke Energy coal-fired power plant.

© Chris Keane / Greenpeace 2014

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The beginning of the Carmichael river. The river will be cut by the void of the Carmichael Coal mine.

The Carmichael mine could be one of the biggest coal mines in the world should it go ahead and Abbot Point coal terminal expansion would see it become one of the biggest coal ports in the world. 

© Tom  Jefferson / Greenpeace 2014

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Clouds are reflected in the Congo River near the village of Lokutu.  The Congo River and its tributaries flow through the second largest rain forest area in the world.

© Greenpeace / Jan-Joseph Stok 2006

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