For thousands of years, the Yangtze River has sustained Chinese civilization. Four hundred million people—more than the population of the United States—depend on the Yangtze for freshwater and generations have relied on the river’s fish for sustenance. The Yangtze is also China’s principal waterway, its rushing waters promising to electrify the world’s fastest-growing economy.

A River Under Threat

Originating high on the Tibetan Plateau, the magnificent Yangtze, the third longest river in the world, descends rapidly, stretching almost 4,000 miles as it surges through mountain valleys, cuts through limestone gorges and winds past lowlands to empty into the ocean at the port of Shanghai. As China’s economy rapidly expands, the health of the Yangtze River deteriorates, imperiling extraordinary aquatic species like the finless porpoise, Chinese alligator, sturgeon and paddlefish, as well as the health and safety of the people living near and dependent on the river. This system suffers from numerous threats, including:

• Catastrophic Floods
• Deforestation
• Pollution
• Sedimentation
• Wetlands Destruction
• Global Climate Change
• Altered Water Flows

As China’s energy needs escalate, the government plans to build 12 new large dams on the Yangtze to join the nearly completed Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest hydropower facility. Without conservation-minded scientific expertise, these dams would likely lead to the demise of the Yangtze’s aquatic life, including fish that supply the main source of protein for tens of millions of Chinese people. The Nature Conservancy is working to find the balance between humans and the ecological health of the Yangtze River, one that sustains both humans and nature.

Sustaining China’s “Mother River”

As one of the world’s leading freshwater conservation organizations, The Nature Conservancy is working with the Chinese government, major hydropower companies and other nonprofit organizations to develop sustainable alternatives to the design and operation of dams planned for the Yangtze River. The project aims to:

• Optimize electricity production and flood control while minimizing harm to the human and aquatic life dependent on the river.
• Assess water flows needed to sustain river ecosystems and working with designers and operators to locate, construct and operate dams in ways that minimize impacts on the river and its fish populations.
• Restore the Yangtze’s critically important wetlands, which play an essential role in providing clean water to tens of millions of people.
• Identify funding for freshwater conservation, such as revenues generated from the sustainable operation of the dams. Funding could subsidize floodplain restoration, flood risk management, ecological protection and health programs designed to stem the spread of water-borne diseases.

In addition, new jobs could be created that will benefit rural economies. As the Yangtze River project evolves, the Conservancy hopes that it will become a model for sustainable hydropower development and ecosystem restoration for the rest of the world to emulate.

The First Step of Many

The Nature Conservancy is also developing a comprehensive, science-based conservation assessment of China. This Conservation Blueprint will identify nationwide preservation priorities; examine threats and guide conservation and development. The Yangtze project marks the first phase of this blueprint, which is expected to span China’s six major ecological regions, from its northern forests to its southern shores, resulting in a detailed map of places to protect and a set of conservation strategies.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Dou Weiyang (Yangtze River); Photo © He Yunying/TNC Photovoice (Future generations depend on the health of the Yangtze River).