6th August 2016

Megadam in the heart of Amazon is cancelled

The Brazilian government has announced that São Luiz do Tapajós (SLT), a giant dam planned in the Amazon, has been cancelled. This follows major environmental issues and a campaign supported by over 1.2 million people.

On Thursday this week, Brazil's environment agency, the IBAMA, announced that the licensing process to build the São Luiz do Tapajós (SLT), a giant dam planned for one of the last major free-flowing rivers in the Amazon rainforest, has been cancelled. Without this license, the approval process for the megadam cannot move forward.

Indigenous tribes and conservation groups have applauded the decision – claiming that if allowed to continue, the dam would have caused irreversible damage to the environment and the Munduruku people's way of life.

"We Munduruku people are very happy with the news. This is very important for us. Now we will continue to fight against other dams in our river," said Arnaldo Kabá Munduruku, General Chief Munduruku.

"Now that the license has been cancelled, the Brazilian Ministry of Justice must recognise its obligation and move swiftly to officially demarcate the Sawré Muybu territory," said Danicley Aguiar, Greenpeace Brazil campaigner.



Amazon River drainage basin map, with Tapajós River highlighted. By Kmusser [CC BY-SA 3.0]

During the last few months, more than 1.2 million people around the world have joined the Munduruku in saying no to the SLT dam and pressuring multinational companies like Siemens to distance themselves from the project.

"This is a great victory for the Munduruku indigenous people who live in the Tapajós region and whose traditions and rights were deeply threatened by the dam and for everyone who cares about the Amazon forest and support the Munduruku globally," said Aguiar.

Other Brazilian agencies – the National Indigenous Foundation (FUNAI) and federal public prosecutors in the state of Pará – had recommended that the IBAMA cancel the license because the project would displace the Munduruku, making it unconstitutional. Under Brazil's constitution, indigenous people cannot be forced off their lands except in case of war or epidemics. The IBAMA also noted that state-run Eletrobrás – Latin America's largest power utility and the company behind the 30 billion reais ($9.40 billion) project – had failed to consider the impact on aquifers, deforestation and biodiversity.

With 8,000 megawatts (MW) of power-generating capacity when fully operational, the SLT would be the second largest dam project in the country and the sixth largest globally. About 376 sq km (145 sq mi) of Munduruku homeland occupied by nearly 12,000 people would be flooded. Sawré Muybu in the Tapajós region, where the Munduruku have lived for centuries, is now in the process of being officially recognised as Indigenous land.

In addition to the SLT, there are 42 other hydropower projects planned in the Tapajós basin and hundreds more earmarked in the Amazon, part of an aggressive economic model that fails to consider the importance of protecting the rainforest and its inhabitants. Previous dams built in the Amazon had significant negative impacts on communities, the environment and have been mired in corruption scandals.

It is possible for a license to be requested for the SLT again. However, the cost of redoing the environmental impact studies, combined with the current recession in Brazil make this unlikely. Greenpeace is calling on the Brazilian government to complete the Munduruku territorial demarcation immediately, urging the nation to focus on truly sustainable ways of producing energy, such as wind and solar. Brazil currently gets about three-quarters of its power from hydroelectric sources.

"Today's decision is a major victory for the Munduruku, their allies and the rule of law in Brazil – sending a shot across the bow of the dam industry juggernaut in the Amazon," said Brent Millikan, Amazon program director at the U.S. non-profit, International Rivers.

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