UNEP Adopt a River Initiative

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the world's leading environmental authority, has partnered with Rotary International - a global service organisation with 1.4 million members across 200+ countries - to launch the Adopt-a-River for Sustainable Development initiative. This powerful collaboration combines UNEP's environmental expertise with Rotary's powerful community action to protect and restore freshwater ecosystems worldwide.

Adopt-A-River aims to protect and restore freshwater ecosystems and advance the sustainable development of communities through river conservation efforts. Through Rotary Clubs all over the world, they organize various on-site programs, ranging from river clean-ups to watershed restoration. They inform, educate and support communities, improve wastewater management, and promote watershed restoration practices. They also engage with local governments and companies to reduce sources of pollution.

The UNEP first contacted us a few weeks before the 2023 Rotary Convention in May. They asked if they could use our global river basin map on their posters and other materials to promote the Adopt-a-River programme. We were honoured to receive such a message. Providing our maps free of charge to support the work of environmental NGOs is a significant aspect of our activities, and we were delighted to accept their request.

So far, our map has appeared in their videos and on the initiative’s website (see above). It was also used in their booth at the Rotary Convention in Melbourne, where it served not only as a poster, but also as an interactive feature: visitors could mark the river basin they came from. Judging by the images posted by Salvador Rico, it was a great success with 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: