Spare a thought for our migrating fish

Abstract

Biodiversity conservation H umans have manipulated rivers for their own use for thousands of years. Dams provide water for cities, irrigation to grow crops while generating power for industry and mining. In South Africa, we have been manipulating our waterways with artificial structures since the seventeenth century. Indeed, the country is one of the leading dam-builders in the world. South Africa’s estimated 500 large dams hold back millions of litres of water, enabling activities that would otherwise have been near impossible in a semiarid climate. Dam construction started slowing down here in the 1970s, in part because there was a growing realisa tion that the benefits also came with a price – often to the river environment.

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