Bolivia:
Brazilian dam project threatens the lives of Amazon communities
On 11 September 2006
the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural
Resources (IBAMA) (the Brazilian environmental authority) approved
the Environmental Impact Assessment on the construction of two
dams in Brazilian territory on the Madera River, the largest tributary
to the Amazon River.
This issue had cause concern amongst
Bolivian and Brazilian scientists because, according to the data
from the study itself, the dams will slow down the speed of the
river flow, causing changes in the river itself and deteriorating
the water quality, in addition to the impacts on smaller rivers
flowing into the Madera river, an aspect not considered in the
Environmental Impact Assessment. The flood area will reach as
far as Bolivia and with time, the river bed will rise, with further
negative effects on the flood problem.
Additionally, the expected changes will
affect the living conditions of the inhabitants of the Bolivian
Amazon, who obtain most of their food and sustenance from the
rivers and the forest. Representatives of organizations and institutions
from the northern Amazon region have stated with alarm that “these
changes are going to frighten off the fish and bring them disease
and death and the same will happen with the birds and other river
animals and forest animals. The gathering of Brazil nuts and timber-yielding
species will be seriously affected.”
The tropical forest remaining in the
hands of Bolivia is still in a good state of preservation. Apart
from agriculture, hunting and fishing, the population basically
subsists on extractive activities such as gathering Brazil nuts
(Bertholletia excelsa), of which Bolivia is the greatest exporter
in the world. Brazil nut economy requires unaltered forests.
Unlike Bolivia, in the Brazilian zone of the Amazon the environment
has been greatly destroyed with forests replaced by grazing lands
for cattle and displacement, very often under duress, of communities
further increasing the ranks of the shanty-towns in the Brazilian
mega-cities. For them development has signified becoming city
poor and in many cases for the indigenous peoples of the region,
it has signified their physical extermination.
The inhabitants of the rural area of
the Amazon region grow crops in the wetlands left by the rivers
following the rainy season. The projected dams will flood these
areas permanently, thus eliminating the agricultural base for
many communities. Furthermore, this permanent flooding will contaminate
their drinking water, bringing with it greater problems of malaria,
dengue, leishmaniasis (an infectious parasitic skin disease),
diarrhoea in children and possibly other diseases as was the case
in Brazil with the construction of other dams.
The construction of hydroelectric plants
is usually accompanied by the promise of cheap energy but, as
in other cases, the astronomical cost of the dam and its installations
may well convert the myth of cheap energy from the rivers into
a sad reality of high costs and greater foreign indebtedness for
the countries involved.
The two dams and their transmission
line will in fact be part of a larger project including two other
dams, one in waters shared between Brazil and Bolivia and the
other in the latter country in addition to a 4000 km long waterway
that will oblige major changes to be made in the region’s river
system to convert them into canals.
Considering the serious threat facing
the Amazon region, representatives of organizations and institutions
from the northern Amazon region – municipal councillors, the university
community, representatives of fisherfolk associations, indigenous
peoples’ associations, rural school teachers, CARITAS, IPHAE,
Foro Regional Norte Amazónico, FOBOMADE, among others - gathered
in the City of Riberalta, Bolivia, on 12 October 2006, resolved:
“To request the National Government
to intervene immediately before the Government of Brazil and international
organizations, such as the United Nations, in defence of our territory,
our rivers, our flora and fauna, the environment and our way of
life. We also request that our right to timely information on
the formalities and results of these formalities be recognized
and taken into account.
To warn the Brazilian government that
we will defend our territory at all international proceedings
and show the world how major works are planned, regardless of
the populations inhabiting the Amazon and regardless of the environment.
To convene our Brazilian brothers and
sisters who are concerned and likely to be affected by the works,
to join us in a world protest together with all the peoples and
nations of the world, in defence of our Amazon territory.”
Article based on information from: “Pronunciamiento
de la región amazónica de Bolivia en torno a las represas proyectadas
sobre el Río Madera”, 12 October 2006, sent by Foro Boliviano
sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo (FOBOMADE), e-mail:
comunicación@fobomade.org.bo, http://www.fobomade.org.bo;
“Destrucción de la Amazonía: Brasil aprueba EIA de represas que
inundarán territorio boliviano”, Pablo Villegas, FOBOMADE,
http://www.fobomade.org.bo/foro/doc/brasil_madera_bolivia.pdf
