Development in the Amazon

Large scale development in the Amazon

Large scale development projects started in the Amazon after most of the area became part of Brazil’s territory in 1967. The Brazil’s Polamazonia Plan in the 1970s aimed to open up the Amazon to development. This included encouraging and funding the following large scale development projects.

•Road and rail development•Logging•Ranching•Hydroelectric Power (HEP)•Mining•Settlement

Developments in the Amazon

Carajas Project

Iron ore, copper, manganese, nickel, bauxite, gold, tin, lead and zinc were all found at Carajas.

Carajas

Sao Luis

Belem

Tucurui

TransAmazonian Highway

rail link

0 100km

There are two types of miners in the Amazon –1) miners that work in the official mines which are regulated by the

Brazilian government2) illegal miners such as the gold prospectors (‘garimpeiros’)

Both sets of miners have caused damage to the ecosystem by cutting down large areas of forest and by using chemicals to purify their metals. However, the official mines have made some efforts to repair some of the environmental damage they have caused. For example, at a large bauxite mine on the Trombetas River in the state of Para, the mining company has stopped dumping their tailings (sludge from washing the ore) into the river and they have started a reforestation project.

The garimpeiros are more difficult to monitor. They use enormous amounts of mercury to purify the gold and this toxic metal is released into the rivers and is absorbed into the food chain.

Mining

Slash and Burn is used to clear the land for settlement and ranching.

Logging

Tucurui Dam

Tucurui Dam was built between 1976 and 1984, on the Lower Tocantins River in the state of Para, approximately 300km south of Belem.

The reservoir created upstream of the dam is over 2000km2. The dam will produce more than 4000 MW of electricity.

TucuruiDam

Amazonian Indian villages

HEP plant

Road

flooded an area 5 times the size

of the Isle of Wight

Before Tucurui Dam After Tucurui Dam

Tucurui Dam – cost $5 billion

Describe the dam’s impact on the landscape.

River Tocantins

Tucurui Dam

The dam has stopped silt travelling downstream. This silt is a natural fertiliser. We will have to buy chemical fertilisers or clear more forest.

The flooding displaced thousands of us living by the river. Moreover, chemicals used to defoliate the vegetation before flooding have contaminated the water and caused illness.

This electricity will be used to power the mines at Carajas and the smelting industries at Belem. These industries will provide jobs.

The dam has stopped the migration of fish up and downstream.

Who gained and who lost out from its construction?

Tucurui

Match the statement with the correct personCarajas

Farmer

Fishermen

Amazonian Indian

Miner

Then the water in the lake and what the lake releases,Is crawling with infected snails and water born diseases. There’s a hideous locust breeding ground when the water level’s low…

by K E Boulding

The cost of building dams…

Why was road building such as the TransAmazonian Highway vital to all these large scale development projects?

Broken Nutrient cycle

Deforestation

Fewer leaves fall

Less decomposition (breaking down) of litter by termites, fungi and bacteria

Less nutrients enter the soil

Soil becomes infertile

Less vegetation

What impact does road building have on the Amazon’s ecosystem?Organise these statements into the flow chart below. There is more than one correct order.

there is no vegetation to intercept the rain

the soil is washed away

trees are cut down

road is builtthe nutrient cycle is broken and so the soil becomes infertile

it is difficult to grow crops

the area become more accessible

other large scale developments such as mining come to the area

more trees are cut down

people migrate to the area

Should large scale development be allowed in the Amazon?

Role Play

You will be allocated a role from the following:

•Brazilian Government•Hydroelet (large HEP company)•FUNAI (government organisation for the protection of Amazonian Indians)•World Medical Organisation (concerned with the protection of

plants for medical research)•Greentours (a holiday company concerned with providing holidays that nether harm the environment nor the local people)

Research your role carefully and then prepare a presentation to explain why you are for or against large scale development in the Amazon.

Read the next 6 slides.Which of the above groups will be against large scale development?

Brazilian Government

Fact FileCapital - Brazilia

Population – 162 millionGNP per capita - $3,370

Debt - $1,153 millionLiteracy – 80%

Tourism – over 1 million visitors per year

‘The income gap between the richest and the poorest in Brazil is getting wider. The shanty towns in our large cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and Sao Paulo are expanding and their residents lack basic facilities such as electricity and clean water.

Our interest on the debt is growing each year and we need to invest in our industries if we are to ever pay back this money.

Developing the Amazon can generate some of this necessary investment.’

FUNAI(Fundaao Nacional do Indio)

‘FUNAI is the government agency set up to protect the rights of the Amazonian Indians. We believe that most large scale developments have a negative impact on the Amazon’s ecosystem and on the traditional nomadic lifestyle of the Amazonian Indians. For example, approximately 6,000 Indians were left landless by the Grand Carajas Project, especially by the Tucurui dam. We would like to see more sustainable developments such as in the Xingu Indian Park where Kayapo villages have entered into a partnership with the Body Shop. The Kayapo collect Brazil nuts and extract the oil in their villages by using a press. They then sell this oil directly to the Body Shop for use in toiletries.

In order to protect the Amazonian Indians’ rights to the land, we want further areas of the rainforest set up as Indian reserves.’

Hydroelet

‘Hydro Electric Power (HEP) is a renewable form of energy. This means that unlike coal, oil and gas this type of energy does not run out.

Brazil gets 92.5% of its energy from HEP and the demand for energy is rising. Hydroelet plans to build more dams, like Tucurui, in the Amazon to harness the fast flowing rivers in this area.

Hydroelet believes that this electricity will not only benefit industries all over Brazil but will also provide energy to satisfy the country’s growing population.’

World Medical Organisation

Quinine was discovered in The Amazon.

It is an anti- malaria drug from the bark of the cinchona tree (and also an ingredient in tonic water!).How can the Brazilian Government

and the Amazonian Indians benefit from the discoveries?

‘Only 1,100 species have been investigated out of 365,000 possible species in the Amazon.

On average, an important new drug has been found for every 125 species investigated. We believe that areas should be set aside for medical research.’

‘Catclaw Acacia’ is a climbing vine, found in the Amazon, and it is being studied for its potential against cancer and AIDs.

Internet Link – biodiversityhttp://library.thinkquest.org/20248/

Ecotourism in the AmazonGreentours

Internet Link – ecotourismwww.brazilianadventure.comwww.brazilnature.com/inges/index.html

‘At Greentours, visitors stay in an Amazonian village or in the small lodges which are built from local resources. The visitors can undertake conservation work as part of their holiday.

Greentours feel that unlike the large scale developments, their tours will generate money for the Amazonian Indians without destroying the Amazon’s ecosystem.’

Ecotourism is sustainable, low density tourism which safeguards the natural environment and meets the needs of the host population.

simple tourist lodge

boat trip with local guide

Greentours

What are the sustainable alternatives to large scale development?

Internet links –www.ran.org/www.greenforce.org/www.greenpeace.org/

SUSTAINABLE development involves activities that preserve and enhance the beauty and resources of

an area for future generations.

Name one activity in the Amazon that is ‘sustainable’.

Investigate - How can the Brazilian government profit from the Amazon without large scale development?