Bad news: the brazilian dams are go.

[Azur]

I have some really bad news for everyone who's interested in fish from Xingu, Madeira, Tocantins... well, pretty much the entire interior amazon: the brazilian presidents pharaonic plans to dam & divert these rivers, the most species rich in the world, have been approved, and construction already started in the Xingu.

It is unknown at this time how many species of fish, cichlids and other, will be extinguished by these projects, because, well, the developers and the government have studiously avoided to investigate the matter, instead electing to focus on matters such as how the dams will impact Global Warming!

Catfish and characins are likely to be harder hit than cichlids, with well-known species such as Hypancistrus zebra and Baryancistrus sp. "Gold Nugget" among the likely casualties,
but a number of dwarf cichlids are also facing extinction, e.g. Teleocichla gephyrogramma.
Due to the large number of known-but-undescribed species it is however not only unclear which species will be extinguished, but even what species are at all present.

Considering the enormity of this project to "develop" the amazon (the ultimate goal is to leverage these dams as infrastructure to turn 1/3rd of the amazon forest into soy bean plantations) it is amazing that it has apparently completely passed under the radar of every major biodiversity watchdog in the world.

Basically, for anyone interested in south-american fish, these dams are really, really, bad. I personally think that this will be the biggest single environmental disaster, measured in lost species, in recorded history.


Here's a good review article with more info on the subject, with lots of links:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworld/shanesworld.php?article_id=360

 

[Mike Wise]

All too true, sad to say. This is one of the reasons (according to one of my Brazilian fish collector friends) why the Brazilian govenment has been restricting hobbyists from collecting in Brazil. The more popular the fish, the more light shines on the area - something they do not want! Very sad. Many of the rheophilic species (Teleocichlas among them) will be lost to habitat destruction. Many of the larger migrating characoids and catfishes will be stressed, too (much like salmon runs in the U. S. Pacific Northwest). Hopefully the Brazilian authorities will find a way to artifically breed these fish as we do salmon. Otherwise an important source of animal protein will be lost to the local population.

 

[beleg]

Human stupidity knows no boundaries!

 

[Azur]

OK, what follows is very much my personal opinion. Well, rant, really:

I wish it was just stupidity, but it is malice and greed.

The dams are multi-billion-dollar projects, and it is an official secret that brazilian politicians are skimming off the funds, the builders are of course making hefty profits, and land owners with advance warning have bought worthless jungle and will now get the roads and waterways and permits to clearcut and turn it into valuable soy bean plantations. The goal of the project is not to generate electricity or even to "develop" the "backwards" amazonia, but to enrich politicians, builders, and land owners.

The government, corrupt and in the pocket of the developers, has destroyed IBAMA, the authority previously in charge of evaluating and giving permits to projects, replacing it with a new rubber stamp organization. Protests from the local populations have been met with bribes, coercion and even murder.

The environmental impact study is lacking, to the point of being fraudulent.

The government has refused to even look at studies showing that the same amount of electricity could be generated by less destructive means (naturally - as the point of the project isn't to generate electricity!)

And, like I said, if the project runs to completion the end result is the destruction of not just a handfull of rivers, even if the richest rivers on earth, and an unknown number of species of fish, insects, crustaceans, plants, snails, birds... but one full third of the amazon.

So why don't you hear about this in the news? Why aren't environmental organizations upset about this?
Partly because the Brazilian government appear to have successfully covered the entire issue up, but mostly, IMO, because the environmental movement is a cyclops. It can only focus on one issue at a time, and right now it cares about global warming, global warming, and only global warming.

Thereby again showcasing how incredibly bad the environmental movement is of picking its battles. This is a real threat today, global warming a potential threat tomorrow - which, then, is more pressing?

Especially annoying is that the Brazilian government, intentionally, have no clue how many or which species will be affected. Many, perhaps most, of the species which will perish with out even having been given a name, much less studied in any detail. For many species, no one will even know they ever existed.

Really, really, really poor management of natural resources. And for what? Enriching corrupt politicians, land owners, and contractors.

I didn't expect crap like this from Brazil. I expect it from corrupt third world hell holes like Congo, where the environmental protection chief demanded that chimp and gorilla meat be served at all state dinners, or Burma, where the minister in charge of environmental protection is also the owner of the biggest lumber company in the country - but not from Brazil.

 

[blueblue]

very sad to learn that ...