Rhine River

49 BCE - 2017 CE

“The river Rhine is 1,320km long and flows from the Swiss Alps through Switzerland, France, Germany, and the Netherlands to the North Sea. The 185,000km2 catchments area of the Rhine… is populated by about 50 million people. A number of industrial centers such as Basel, the Ruhr region and Rotterdam are situated along the Rhine, formerly a wild stream, meandering through a wide floodplain, today a vital shipping route... The river is also of importance for the water supply for agriculture and the drinking water provision for about 30 million people. Twenty-one hydropower plants on the Rhine mainstream have a total installed capacity of several thousands of megawatts (MW).”

T. Brenner, A.D. Buijse, M. Lauff, J.F. Luqet, E. Staub, "The Present Status of the River Rhine with Special Emphasis on Fisheries Development," report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2002). http://www.fao.org/3/ad525e/ad525e08.htm

BIRDS: 1 species is extinct and 11 are endangered
FISH: 6 species are extinct and 7 are endangered
MAMMALS: 7 species are extinct and 7 are endangered
INVASIVE SPECIES: 15 invasive and non-native species

Most Pressing Issues

Dams

Damming of the Rhine is one of the main causes of the disappearance of native migrating fish species.

Engineering

The Rhine is one of the most heavily engineered rivers in the world. By channeling and straightening it into one controlled bed, engineers have long since wiped out what was once a complex riparian ecosystems.

Pollution

Much of the lower river became a dead zone for aquatic species. Recent cleanup efforts have done much to restore healthy water conditions.

Water Levels

Changes in weather patterns and the reduction of alpine snowpack are playing a role in the historically low water levels.

Fish in Peril

Damming and installation of locks along the rivers, industrial pollution, and the introduction of exotic species have all radically altered riparian ecologies making it difficult for fish to survive.

How You Can Help

Living Upper Rhine

The Living Upper Rhine (Lebendiger Alpenrhein) is a consortium of Alpine Rhine environmental organizations that works for the revitalization of the water network and flow recovery.

LIFE+ project

The LIFE+ project by Rheinauen works to re-establish critical ecological dynamics and valuable natural structures in the Rhine and Murg river valleys.

International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine

The International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine is an international consortium of member states who work together to improve the quality of the Rhine

Friends of the Earth

Friends of the Earth (Milieudefensie) works towards a sustainable Netherlands, while campaigning for limited urban development along the banks of the Rhine.