This chapter features three case studies and highlights best practices and strategies for avoiding and mitigating the negative impacts of renewable energy projects.
The first case study, the Lom Pangar Dam in Cameroon, considers the challenges of implementing best practices designed to protect apes once a project shifts from the planning to the construction phase. The second case study, in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, explores how community activism and collaboration between communities and scientists can prevent the construction of destructive dams. The final case study assesses the implications of a proposed geothermal plant in Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem.
These case studies are complemented by a section that describes a method to fuse planning for energy and water infrastructure with planning to maintain or restore environmental and social values. To be successful, the application of such an approach requires collaboration among a range of actors in the hydropower development process, including governments, funders, developers and civil society.