UNEP Adopt a River Initiative

Adopt-a-River for Sustainable Development is a global initiative, a partnership between the United Nations Environment Programme and Rotary International. It aims to protect and restore freshwater ecosystems and helps in the sustainable development of communities. Through Rotary Clubs all over the world they organize different on site programs from river clean-ups to watershed restoration, and they not only inform, educate and support communities, they also help improve wastewater management and engage with local governments and companies in order to reduce sources of pollution.

We were first contacted by the UNEP a few weeks before the 2023 Rotary Convention in May. They wanted to know if they could use our river basin map of the world on their posters and other materials promoting Adopt-a-River. It was quite and honor to receive such a message. Providing our maps for free to help the work of environmental NGOs is a huge part of what we do, so, as always, we gladly said yes.

So far our map has appeared in their videos and on the initiative’s website (above). It was also used in their booth at the Rotary Convention in Melbourne, not only as a poster, but as a more interactive part of the setting, too: people could mark the river basin they came from. Looking at the images posted by Salvador Rico, it was a great success among visitors.

The booth was shared with another important advocate of freshwater health and ecosystem restoration, the International RiverFoundation. The below picture is taken from their Facebook post.

Read more about Adopt-a-River on their website or watch their introduction under 3 minutes – and spot our map towards the end, at 2:08: