Dammed, diverted and polluted, China’s rivers are reaching an ecological tipping point. The crisis facing China’s rivers is increasingly recognized by the Chinese government and its citizens, yet the government continues to dam China’s rivers at an unprecedented pace. Yu Xiaogang is one of the leaders of a growing citizens’ movement to protect China’s rivers and people from the impacts of dams and other river development projects.

Yu Xiaogang is creating ground breaking watershed management programs in China and is raising awareness about the destructive impacts of large dams. Yu’s work on documenting the social impacts of dams has led the Chinese government to mandate social impact assessments in the decision-making process for all proposed major development projects.

Yu has been a key player in the movement to protect the Three Parallel Rivers World Heritage Site in Yunnan Province from the impacts of large dams. The World Heritage Site is the epicenter of Chinese biodiversity, containing virgin forests, 6,000 species of plants and 79 rare or endangered animal species.