In This Article
Subscribe to Environment Updates
An indigenous man protests the Belo Monte hydropower dam in Altamira, Brazil, May 20.
Can Development Save the Amazon?
Brazil’s plans to build dams and a highway in the Amazon region have been railed by environmentalists, but others say development is necessary for conservation.
30-Second Summary
Brazil will spend $296 billion on projects in the Amazon jungle over the next two years to expand the country’s global economic presence. The controversial Belo Monte dam, which is “projected to produce 6.3 percent of Brazil’s electricity by 2014” according to ABC News, would damage the rainforest and ruin livelihoods.
The dam is one of several projects laid out in Brazil’s Plan for a Sustainable Amazon (PSA), a contentious strategy being implemented by Brazil’s minister of strategic affairs, Roberto Mangabeira Unger, according to the BBC.
Unger’s ideas clashed with those of staunch conservationist Marina Silva, who quit her post as environment minister earlier this month, frustrated with what she deemed the Brazilian administration’s anti-environmentalism.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also butted heads with Marina Silva. “We shouldn’t think of the Amazon as a sanctuary,” Lula da Silva said.
Instead, Lula da Silva is in favor of Unger’s strategy of sustainable development of the Amazon jungle. Regarding a recent deforestation spike, Unger told the New York Times, a “form of environmentalism that is not wedded to a coherent economic strategy for the occupation of the Amazon is self-defeating.”
Unger is in favor of conservation, but thinks development is a necessary part of saving the Amazon. He calls the region “a set of 25 million people,” not trees, who need economic opportunities, or risk destruction.
The dam is one of several projects laid out in Brazil’s Plan for a Sustainable Amazon (PSA), a contentious strategy being implemented by Brazil’s minister of strategic affairs, Roberto Mangabeira Unger, according to the BBC.
Unger’s ideas clashed with those of staunch conservationist Marina Silva, who quit her post as environment minister earlier this month, frustrated with what she deemed the Brazilian administration’s anti-environmentalism.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also butted heads with Marina Silva. “We shouldn’t think of the Amazon as a sanctuary,” Lula da Silva said.
Instead, Lula da Silva is in favor of Unger’s strategy of sustainable development of the Amazon jungle. Regarding a recent deforestation spike, Unger told the New York Times, a “form of environmentalism that is not wedded to a coherent economic strategy for the occupation of the Amazon is self-defeating.”
Unger is in favor of conservation, but thinks development is a necessary part of saving the Amazon. He calls the region “a set of 25 million people,” not trees, who need economic opportunities, or risk destruction.
Headline Links: Development picks up in the Amazon
ABC News reports that Brazil will spend $296 billion on projects in the Amazon jungle over the next two years to expand the country’s global economic presence. In particular, the Belo Monte dam is stirring up controversy. By 2014, the dam is expect to produce 6.3 percent of Brazil’s electricity, but will also “swallow thick rain forest and harm rare fish, as well as the livelihoods and homes of roughly 15,000 people,” said ABC News.
Source: ABC News (Associated Press)
Brazil has several major projects planned in the Amazon region, including three dams and a $2 billion river diversion project that critics feel could dry up the already damaged Sao Francisco River. Additionally, the $810 million Highway to the Pacific, linking the region with Peru to ease commodity transport, will cause deforestation and increase human traffic in the delicate rain forest, say opponents.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (Associated Press)
Projects in the Amazon are included in Brazil’s Plan for a Sustainable Amazon, led by minister of strategic affairs Roberto Mangabeira Unger. The development-focused plan has been criticized by environmentalists, but Unger believes the plan will improve conservation efforts. “What we must do is develop a regulatory legal and tax regime, ensuring that the forest standing is worth more than the forest cut down,” he said.
Source: The BBC
Background: Clashing ideas, similar ideals
In early May 2008, Brazil’s Environmental Minister Marina Silva quit in frustration. Silva, who was appointed under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2003, saw her efforts to protect the Amazon rainforest hindered by dam-building, road projects and an administration that she says turned its back on environmental promises.
Source: findingDulcinea
The New York Times profiled Roberto Mangabeira Unger, Brazil’s minister of strategic affairs. Regarding development of the Amazon rain forest, Unger desires environmentalism with a “coherent economic strategy.” Any development in the region, such as recent deforestation, is “self-defeating” if it doesn’t fit into sustainable economic plan, he conveyed.
Source: The New York Times (free registration may be required)
Related Topic: Silva’s replacement
Carlos Minc, former Environment Secretary of Rio de Janeiro, is expected to assume Brazil’s environment minister position left by Marina Silva. He has promised to crack down on illegal logging with a “zero deforestation program” that would utilize military force to protect the environment.
Source: International Herald Tribune
Most Recent Beyond The Headlines
© 2012 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
