World Rivers Day is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of September every year to increase public awareness about rivers and to encourage their conservation. 2022 is the 18th Anniversary of World Rivers Day. Environment groups, water resource activists, and the general public participate in World Rivers Day events.
Rivers face a challenge posed by humans due to climate change and rapid urbanisation. Rivers provide water for irrigation, domestic supply, power generation as well as a range of other ecosystem services and intrinsic and biodiversity values. The biodiversity of rivers reflects the diversity of environments they flow through. When an area loses a large percentage of its fresh water, many animals die. In some cases, species become extinct. This leads to a decrease in the region's biodiversity. In 2021, several million people in up to 100 countries celebrated the many values of our waterways.
Rivers are key to restoring and maintaining the world’s biodiversity. Rivers are the zone of Earth’s highest biological diversity. The theme for World Rivers Day 2022 is: “The importance of Rivers to Biodiversity”.
Facts relating to rivers of the world:
- There are approximately 165 major rivers in the world.
- Rivers and lakes sustain more fish species than the sea, even though they contain 600 times less water.
- Some 276 rivers flow across more than one country, and their basins cover almost half the Earth’s land surface.
- Every year, rivers take 200 million tons of carbon out of the ground and the air and transport it to the sea.
- Rivers have created some of the world’s most-treasured natural heritage. More than 30 riverscapes, from the Pantanal to the Okavango Delta, have been recognised as World Heritage Sites.
- Around 19 countries in the word do not have rivers.
- Bangladesh has about 700 rivers and is known as the “the land of rivers”.
- The river Thames in London is the cleanest river in the world.
- The Citarum River in Indonesia is the most polluted river in the world.
- The Congo River is the deepest recorded river.
- The Amazon River is the widest river in the world.
- The Nile River passes through the maximum number of 11 countries.
- Rio Negro is the largest black river in the world.
- The Caño Cristales in Colombia is considered the most beautiful river in the world.
Join the celebration. Evolve into a celebration of a local river heritage, and its connection to the environment. Events can range from stream cleanups and fish enhancement projects, to educational outings and community riverside celebrations.
World Rivers Day Poster 2022 (8.95 MB)
