Brazil Pulls Out of Destructive Project in Wetlands
6/24/98
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Brazil Pulls Out of Destructive Project in Wetlands
Source: Environmental Defense Fund
Status: Distribute freely with proper credit to source
Date: 6/24/98
EDF Letter Vol. XXIX, No. 3 -- June 1998
Brazil Pulls Out of Destructive Project in Wetlands
Brazil's environmental agency, IBAMA, announced in March that it is dropping
plans for a
2,100-mile shipping channel through the vast Pantanal wetlands. The Hidrova
Paraguay-
Paran Waterway project had threatened world-renowned critical habitats that are
rich in
biodiversity. Eduardo Martins, head of the Brazilian Federal Environmental
Agency, said
the Hidrovia project does not make strategic or economic sense and is
unnecessary. Brazil
will instead pursue navigation improvements and smaller-scale works that will
not affect
the Pantanal, he said.
The Pantanal wetlands are located on Brazil's southwestern border with Paraguay
and
Bolivia. They are habitat for an estimated 150,000 species of birds, plants, and
animals,
including the giant river otter, caiman, puma, and hyacinth macaw.
"This is a major step forward," said EDF scientist Deborah Moore, who leads EDF
efforts
to protect the Pantanal, working with more than 300 non-governmental groups in
South and
North America and Europe. EDF pressed the Inter-American Development Bank, the
U.S. State
Department, and others to abandon support for the project in favor of better,
less
harmful alternatives.
"The Brazilian government is taking a courageous step in publicly abandoning the
worst
aspects of the project," said Moore. "Other countries may still choose to do
pieces of
the project, but without Brazil's support it is essentially dead."
A key influence on this decision was a report by an independent panel of experts
invited
by EDF and FundaŘao CEBRAC, a Brazilian nonprofit group, to evaluate Hidrova's
environmental, social, and economic impacts. The panel found the engineering and
economic
feasibility studies and environmental assessment of the project "flawed and
inadequate."
It recommended alternatives to improve quality of life, transportation, and
natural
resource management in the region.
Moore Named to New Commission on Dams
Noting that similar projects in the region have resulted in costly failures, the
panel
recommended greater use of independent expert reviews to improve the rigor and
objectivity of project evaluations. Along these lines, the World Bank and the
World
Conservation Union/IUCN have created the World Commission on Dams, an
independent panel
of experts to review the environmental, social, and economic impacts of large
dams around
the world. EDF's Moore is the only U.S. environmentalist named to the 12-member
international Commission.
The Commission will assess alternatives for water and energy development,
recommend
guidelines for decommissioning and removing dams, and develop internationally
accepted
standards for planning, managing, designing, and building dams.
"I hope the Commission's work will help build consensus out of dam
controversies," Moore
said. "Rather than repeating the same tired arguments, it's time to ask how we
can
better define a common ground. We need more rigorous investigation of the
benefits and
costs to society of dam projects. There are many worthy solutions that, if
implemented,
can end most conflicts and avoid the need for costly new dam and river
development
projects. The World Commission on Dams will elevate the debate over how the
world will
manage its scarce water resources into the next century."
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