What is the Belo Monte project?
Belo Monte is highly complex. The project consists of two dams, one artificial canal, two reservoirs, of which one is on dry land and an extensive system of dikes, some big enough to qualify themselves as large dams. To build Belo Monte, more earth would have to be dug than was moved to build the Panama Canal.
Why is the Belo Monte Dam controversial?
It would also mean grave impacts on the land and livelihood of 800 indigenous people and thousands of riverine and urban families. Belo Monte is one of the world’s most controversial dams. Indigenous peoples and social movements in the region have fought its construction for more than twenty years.
How many people will be affected by Belo Monte?
Riverine and urban people Officially 19,000 people would be displaced for Belo Monte, most in the city of Altamira, but the independent review of the project found the real number of directly affected people could be twice the official estimate.
Who are the indigenous people of Belo Monte?
Indigenous people Belo Monte would directly affect indigenous communities living along what is known as the Xingu’s “Big Bend”. About 800 indigenous people from the Juruna, Xikrín, Arara, Xipaia, Kuruaya, Kayapó and other ethnic groups live in this region.
The Belo Monte hydroelectric power plant is being built on the Xingu River in the Pará state of Brazil. The project broke ground in March 2011 with the start of access road construction. Upon its completion, it will be the fourth largest hydroelectric plant in the world with a capacity of 11,233MW.
Why did they build Belo Monte Dam?
The Belo Monte Dam (formerly known as Kararaô) is a hydroelectric dam complex on the northern part of the Xingu River in the state of Pará, Brazil. The Government has decided to construct new hydroelectric dams to guarantee national energy security.
What happened with the Belo Monte Dam?
The controversial Belo Monte mega-dam in Pará state has done significant socio environmental harm to the Xingu River and the indigenous and traditional people living beside it. Climate change-induced droughts are also decreasing Xingu River flows and generating capacity.
What problems has the Belo Monte Dam caused?
Belo Monte’s reservoir, filled at the end of 2015, flooded 260 square miles of lowlands and forest, displaced more than 20,000 people, and caused extensive damage to a river ecosystem that contains more than 500 fish species, many of them found nowhere else.
What are the benefits of the Belo Monte Dam?
The Belo Monte Dam project is part of two Brazilian initiatives: the reduction of carbon emissions while maintaining energy security, and the Accelerated Growth Program (PAC).
How will the Belo Monte Dam affect indigenous peoples?
The livelihoods of thousands of tribal people who depend on the forest and river for food and water could be destroyed. The influx of immigrants to the area during the construction of the dam threatens to introduce violence to the area and bring diseases to these Indians, putting their lives at risk.
What are the benefits of the Belo Monte dam?
When was the Belo Monte dam built?
2013
UHBM/Opened
When was the Belo Monte Dam built?
How will the Belo Monte dam affect indigenous peoples?
How much energy does the Belo Monte Dam produce?
There is a main 11,233MW hydroelectric plant at Belo Monte that will house 18 turbines, a secondary much smaller 233MW plant at the 7km barrage across the river in Pimental and a deep canal to divert water from one to the other.
How will the proposed of the Belo Monte Dam affect the environment?
AT WHAT COST TO THE AMAZON’S BIODIVERSITY? Belo Monte would affect biodiversity over an extensive area of the central Amazon. The rich flooded forests of the Big Bend and middle Xingu would no longer receive seasonal floodwaters.