During COP15, International Rivers in partnership with Guinean organization, CECIDE, released a new fact sheet, “Guinea’s Koukoutamba Dam: A White Elephant in the Making,” which reveals the anticipated environmental harms from the Koukoutamba Dam under preparation in Guinea. Koukoutamba Dam was heavily promoted by the World Bank, which ultimately decided not to finance the dam’s construction once the extent of its impacts became clear. Since then, the world’s largest dam construction company, Beijing-based Sinohydro, signed an agreement to build the dam. However, the project remains plagued by controversy, and must be reconsidered in light of a number of fundamental flaws. Namely, the proposed Dam and future reservoir are to be located in the Moyen Bafing National Park, which was established to protect the critically endangered Western chimpanzee.

As stated in the fact sheet, conservationists estimate that as many as 1,500 of the 4,000 chimpanzees in the park could be killed by drowning when the reservoir fills, conflict between groups due to restricted ranges, and impacts from the construction of access roads to a previously inaccessible area.

Read the full publication in English here and in French here.