412 hydroelectric dams will be built across the Amazon basin and its headwaters if current plans are fulfilled. 256 are in Brazil, 77 in Peru, 55 in Ecuador, 14 in Bolivia, six in Venezuela, two in Guyana, and one each in Colombia, French Guyana and Surinam. 81dams are proposed for construction in the Maranon River basin alone.
Paul Little in his report ‘Mega-Development Projects in Amazonia: A geopolitical and socioenvironmental primer’writes: "The construction of many large-scale dams in the vast headwaters region of the Amazon Basin – encompassing parts of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia – will produce critical changes in continental water flows, with little knowledge of the ecological consequences of this policy. This new wave of dam building in the headwaters of the Basin is a "hydrological experiment" of continental proportions, yet little is known scientifically of pan-Amazonian hydrological dynamics, creating the risk of provoking irreversible changes in rivers...The majority of negative impacts of these same mega-development projects are borne by indigenous peoples, who suffer from the invasion of their territories, and local communities, which suffer from the proliferation of serious social and health problems."
Seven "primary socioenvironmental impacts" could be caused by mega-development projects, including "potential for ecosystem collapse", "the end of free-flowing rivers", "genetic erosion", and "the forced industrialization of the jungle."
1.6 million km2 of the Amazon covered by mining concessions.
1.1 million km2 of the Amazon that is or is set to be included in oil and gas concessions.
61,487 km2 of the Amazon involved in the exploratory phase for oil and gas by Brazilian state company Petrobras, which has more of the Amazon than any other company.
327 oil and gas blocks in the Amazon.
40% of Colombian Amazon open for oil and gas development.
84% of the Peruvian Amazon under oil and gas concessions in 2009, marking a threefold increase since 2004. 11% of Peru’s Amazon under mining concessions.
407,000 km2 (19%) of mining zones in the Amazon in indigenous territories.
281,000 km2 (15%) of mining zones in the Amazon in "protected areas."
From The Guardian
Paul Little in his report ‘Mega-Development Projects in Amazonia: A geopolitical and socioenvironmental primer’writes: "The construction of many large-scale dams in the vast headwaters region of the Amazon Basin – encompassing parts of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia – will produce critical changes in continental water flows, with little knowledge of the ecological consequences of this policy. This new wave of dam building in the headwaters of the Basin is a "hydrological experiment" of continental proportions, yet little is known scientifically of pan-Amazonian hydrological dynamics, creating the risk of provoking irreversible changes in rivers...The majority of negative impacts of these same mega-development projects are borne by indigenous peoples, who suffer from the invasion of their territories, and local communities, which suffer from the proliferation of serious social and health problems."
Seven "primary socioenvironmental impacts" could be caused by mega-development projects, including "potential for ecosystem collapse", "the end of free-flowing rivers", "genetic erosion", and "the forced industrialization of the jungle."
1.6 million km2 of the Amazon covered by mining concessions.
1.1 million km2 of the Amazon that is or is set to be included in oil and gas concessions.
61,487 km2 of the Amazon involved in the exploratory phase for oil and gas by Brazilian state company Petrobras, which has more of the Amazon than any other company.
327 oil and gas blocks in the Amazon.
40% of Colombian Amazon open for oil and gas development.
84% of the Peruvian Amazon under oil and gas concessions in 2009, marking a threefold increase since 2004. 11% of Peru’s Amazon under mining concessions.
407,000 km2 (19%) of mining zones in the Amazon in indigenous territories.
281,000 km2 (15%) of mining zones in the Amazon in "protected areas."
From The Guardian
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