aking our way up the Iriri River, we encountered another voadeira (motorized canoe). Sitting motionless along the river bank, it was packed full of indigenous Xipaya Indians — men, women…
In this, the fourth of six articles, Sue Branford traces the troubled history of the Belo Monte dam. hree years ago I travelled by bus through the vast Belo Monte…
In this, the third of six articles, Sue Branford traces the rise of the Four Sisters, and notes how BNDES loans helped empower the influential firms. he “Four Sisters”, as…
In this, the second of six articles, Sue Branford explores the history of BNDES and examines some of the criticisms that have been levelled at the lender. razil’s BNDES (Banco…
Adélia Marinho de Souza’s cottage garden is a hidden treasure. You leave behind the rough pavement, rank-smells, and sewage-contaminated streets of the city of Altamira in the state of Pará…
hinese construction companies are trying to gain a larger foothold on infrastructure projects — especially hydroelectric dams — in the Amazon, a region and sector in which large Brazilian construction…
earing a red-feathered headdress, torso painted in black swirls, with microphone in hand, chief Juarez Saw made a bold declaration: “The [Brazilian] government is coming here to get rid of…
he Amazon’s freshwater ecosystems are at risk because current policy and existing protected areas fail to protect the connectivity of the water cycle, scientists warn. The new study, published in…
he gigantic Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, located on the Xingu River in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, stood just weeks away from beginning operation this week — but the…
esearchers examining changes in forest cover encircling the Amazon’s oldest mega-dam have found that hundreds of square kilometers of forest have been lost each year of the dam’s 25-year history.…
Executive editor's note (15-Jan-2016): Prior to publication, BNDES was not offered an opportunity to respond to allegations reported in this story. This was a serious oversight on our part and…
The Amazon, Congo and Mekong rivers host one-third of Earth's freshwater fish species, many of them found nowhere else — and this rich biodiversity is “being ravaged” by the development…
hen the Balbina Dam was completed in 1987, it flooded primary forest in the state of Amazonas along Brazil’s Uatumã River, forming a massive reservoir speckled by 3,546 flood-induced islands. In…
dam-building boom is underway in the Amazon. More than 400 hydroelectric dams are in operation, being built, or planned for the river’s headwaters and basin. Scientists know that tropical dams…
The tragedy that struck Minas Gerais in early November caused by the rupture of two dams controlled by the Samarco mining company brings us to an uncomfortable fact: Vale S.A., one of…
The flooding of the Belo Monte dam reservoir in Brazil appeared to be imminent just a week ago, despite calls from the Xingu Alive Forever Movement and its allies worldwide…
Dams and reservoirs affect fish and other riverine fauna by creating barriers to movement, both upstream and downstream. Many fish in the Amazon migrate thousands of miles as part of…
