Belo Monte protest: around 300 people dug a channel though an earthen dam blocking the Xingu River last month. Photo credit: Atossa Soltani/ Amazon Watch / Spectral Q.
As of Tuesday, the occupation of Belo Monte dam by indigenous tribes entered its 13th day. Indigenous people, who have fought the planned Brazilian dam for decades, argue that the massive hydroelectric project on the Xingu River will devastate their way of life. According to a statement from the tribes, 17 indigenous villages from 13 ethnic groups are now represented at the occupation, which has successfully scuttled some work on the dam.
The occupiers demand “that construction of the Belo Monte dam be stopped until Norte Energia and the government can adequately mitigate the disastrous impacts of the dam on local indigenous communities,” according to the statement, reprinted by the NGO International Rivers.
Set to be the third largest in the world the dam will displace 16,000 people according to the Brazilian government, although NGOs estimate the total number of displaced will be more than double that.
Final approval of the Belo Monte was given last year, but the physical occupation of the construction site by indigenous tribes corresponded with the Rio+20 Summit on Sustainable Development, which was attended by thousands of government officials from around the world as well as business leaders and NGOs.
For many environmentalists the Belo Monte has also become a symbol of the more than 150 hydroelectric dams planned across the Amazon basin, which they fear could imperil the entire rainforest ecosystem. Although dams are often publicized as ‘green’ sources of energy, they disrupt natural ecosystems and take a toll on wildlife, especially freshwater species. In addition, dams built in the tropics actually expel large amounts of the greenhouse gas methane due to rotting vegetation, which is much more potent in the short-term than carbon. For its part, the Belo Monte will also flood an estimated 40,000 hectares of pristine rainforest and could push some freshwater catfish species to extinction.
Last year, over half a million people worldwide signed a letter protesting the dam, making it the world’s most controversial hydroelectric project.
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