Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Peter Murphy PlanetArk 2 Feb 10;
RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil's government has granted an environmental license for the construction of a controversial hydroelectric dam in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, the Environment Minister said on Monday.
The $17 billion project on the Xingu River in the northern state of Para is to help the fast-growing Latin American country cope with soaring demand for electricity but has raised concern over its likely impact on the environment and on native Indians.
"It may have been the slowest and most complicated process under my management, after all, it is the third largest in the world ... and a very controversial project," Environment Minister Carlos Minc told reporters in Rio de Janeiro.
The 11,000-megawatt Belo Monte dam is part of Brazil's largest concerted development plan for the Amazon since the country's military government cut highways through the rain forest to settle the vast region during its two-decade reign starting in 1964.
Dams, roads, gas pipelines and power grids worth more than $30 billion are being built to tap the region's vast raw materials, and transport its agricultural products in coming years.
Minc said 250 square kilometers (96.5 sq miles) of land would be flooded by the Belo Monte dam and that this had been reduced from 5,000 in the original plans for ecological reasons.
Environmental groups say the Belo Monte project, which also includes creating a waterway to transport agricultural commodities grown in the Amazon, would damage the sensitive ecosystem with the flooding and threaten some fish species.
Rock star and environmental activist Sting traveled to Brazil in November to call for more debate over the building of the dam. The head of the indigenous Kayapo population, Chief Raoni Txucarramae, said he feared the dam could affect areas where his kin lived.
Among the utilities wanting to build and operate the dam are Brazil's state-run Eletrobras.
The winning bidder would have to pay 1.5 billion reais ($803 million) to create national parks, help monitor forests, and benefit communities affected by the dam.
Minc was to present details of the environmental license later on Monday.
(Editing by Raymond Colitt and Marguerita Choy)
Huge Brazil dam moves step closer
Gary Duffy, BBC News 2 Feb 10;
Brazil's government has granted an environmental licence for the construction of a controversial hydro-electric dam in the Amazon rainforest.
Environmental groups say the Belo Monte dam will cause devastation in a large area of the rainforest and threaten the survival of indigenous groups.
However, the government says whoever is awarded the project will have to pay $800m to protect the environment.
The initial approval was a key step before investors could submit bids.
Resignations
The proposal to build a hydro-electric dam on the Xingu river, a tributary of the Amazon in the northern state of Para, has long been a source of controversy.
The initial project was abandoned in the 1990s amid widespread protests both in Brazil and around the world.
The government says the scheme has been modified to take account of fears that it would threaten the way of life of the indigenous peoples who live in the area.
Brazilian Environment Minister Carlos Minc revealed that those who win the bidding process to build and operate Belo Monte will have to pay millions of dollars to protect the environment and meet 40 other conditions.
However, critics say diverting the flow of the Xingu river will still lead to devastation in a large area of the rainforest and damage fish stocks.
They say the lives of up to 40,000 people could be affected as 500 sq km of land would be flooded.
When it is completed, Belo Monte would be third largest hydro-electric dam in the world, after the Three Gorges in China and Itaipu, which is jointly run by Brazil and Paraguay. It is expected to provide electricity to 23 million Brazilian homes.
With Brazil's economy continuing to show signs of growth, ministers say hydro-electric plants are a vital way to ensure power supplies over the next decade - and at least 70 dams are said to be planned for the Amazon region.
Critics say the Belo Monte plant will be hugely inefficient, generating less than 10% of its capacity during the three to four months of the low-water season.
The project has even caused division and resignations within the government's own environment agency Ibama, which, after much delay, has now given its initial approval.
Having passed this critical test the dam is now much closer to becoming a reality, but the controversy surrounding it is also unlikely to go away.
