The government's hydroelectric dams policy change announced this week will surely be greeted as a hopeful sign by environmentalists and indigenous groups. But experts warn that a much bigger strategic policy shift is needed regarding infrastructure planning and agribusiness before the Amazon can be deemed safe from major deforestation.
Al Jazeera America | Environmental activists hope that São Luiz do Tapajós will not follow the same course as the Belo Monte, the Xingu River dam that is now nearly complete. Some tribal leaders opposed to that dam were bought off by the government, according to Maíra Irigaray, the Brazil coordinator of the group Amazon Watch. She fears similar tactics will be used...
Newsweek | "There is basically a climate of impunity," says Christian Poirer of Amazon Watch. "Only one percent of the fines that IBAMA levels on individuals and corporations for illegal deforestation are actually collected." This agency, which is responsible for implementing Brazil's environmental laws, is, he says, "woefully...
The Guardian | Four Amazonian tribes have joined forces to oppose the construction of hydroelectric dams in their territory as the Brazilian government ramps up efforts to exploit the power of rivers in the world's biggest forest.
Ministério Público Federal Pará | Last week, the Munduruku people gathered more than 600 people in their General Assembly to discuss questions related to health, education, and the hydroelectric projects that the Brazilian federal government seeks to build on lands inhabited by more than 10,000 indigenous people.
Agência Pública | With little or no help from the state, this is not the first time that the Tapajós ribeirinhos have faced a threat to their land and their way of life from projects coming from Brasília.
IPS | In Brazil water and electricity go together, and two years of scant rainfall have left tens of millions of people on the verge of water and power rationing, boosting arguments for the need to fight deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
The Ecologist | Brazil's devastating drought could have the unexpected consequence of finally prompting one of the sunniest countries in the world to take solar power seriously.
Xingu Vivo | Belo Monte has not killed the resistance. Its cement has not blinded all people’s eyes, nor has its money bought all consciences. Its repression has not deadened courage or silenced mouths; its lies have not deafened all ears.
Xingu Vivo | Judge José Batista heavily criticized Belo Monte, affirming, "The only concern [in this project] was economic, with a small amount of environmental [concern] and no social concern, especially in regards to indigenous peoples."
NACLA | In recent months, Bolivia's Amazonian region has experienced the most disastrous flooding of the past 100 years. In the past weeks, attention has focused on the role played by two recently-inaugurated Brazilian mega-dams – the Jirau and the San Antonio – in Bolivia's floods.
Einstein once said, "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." It is evident that the Brazilian government dismisses such wisdom.
The Economist | Jaci-Paraná, Brazil – Drive out of Porto Velho, and you see the trouble the world's largest forest is in. Lorry after lorry trundles by laden with logs; charred tree-stumps show where ranchers burned what the loggers left behind; a few cattle roam sparsely through the scrubby fields. In places the acid subsoil shows through, sandy and bone...
Though the name "Cachuela Esperanza" may include the word "hope" translated, this proposed megaproject will most likely mean disaster for the natural environment and indigenous population living near the Madera River Basin.
"Hidden tribes of the Amazon", "free peoples", "uncontacted tribes", "indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation." While society is quick to cast labels, in most cases their true name is known only amongst members of their group.
The Madeira River: Life Before the Dams is a beautiful example of the power of film to capture natural beauty and human emotion, mostly through the play and laughter of children.
The Madeira River in the Brazilian Amazon is under threat due to the construction of the Jirau dam by the French multinational corporation GDF Suez.
Photos from an Amazon Watch trip through the Madeira River basin to bring back stories of anguish and hope in the fight to stop the construction of two mega-hydroelectric dams on the Amazon's principal tributary.
