Brazil govt gives up plans to build dam in the Amazon
The Federal Prosecution Service had already recommended that IBAMA canceled environmental permitting procedures on the grounds that the project violated the constitution because it entailed the eviction of indigenous peoples.
After the environmental permitting for the São Luiz do Tapajós, Pará, hydropower dam project was called off by the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA), the government decided to suspend the project.
Mines and Energy Minister Fernando Coelho Filho said the government is indeed willing to halt all project efforts in the region. This will not create any major difficulties in an energy supply perspective, according to him, because the country has alternatives.
Despite the government's move, Greenpeace announces it will continue to campaign against the prospects of building other dams in the Amazon region. According to Greenpeace, there still are 42 dam projects planned for the Tapajós river basin and dozens in the Amazon.
Danicley Aguiar, from Greenpeace's Amazon campaign, says IBAMA did the right thing. “This dam poses extreme risk to biodiversity conservation in the Tapajós river and, above all, threats to the livelihoods of Munduruku [indigenous] people,” he said.
He went on to say Greenpeace will continue to work to sensitize Brazilian government and society to the risks plans to expand Brazil's hydropower capabilities in the Amazon pose to the ecological balance of the biome and the threats to the local population, especially indigenous and traditional people.
Earlier this month, IBAMA decided to call off the plant project's environmental permitting process. According to IBAMA Chair Suely Araújo, the project and the environmental impact assessment for the plant lacked essential information required to determine the project's environmental feasibility.
The Federal Prosecution Service (MPF) in Pará state had already recommended that IBAMA canceled environmental permitting procedures on the grounds that the project violated the constitution because it entailed the eviction of indigenous peoples. According to the prosecutors, the project was set to drown three Munduruku villages on the Sawré Muybu Indigenous Territory.
According to Greenpeace, the cancellation provides an opportunity to reconsider Brazil's energy model and adopt such renewable and clean sources as wind and solar power to meet the demand.
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Brazil govt gives up plans to build dam in the Amazon
