Background – The Brazilian government is planning two huge dams on the Madeira River, principal tributary of the Amazon, and a region of mega-biodiversity, with 750 fish and 800 bird species. The Santo Antônio and Jirau dams would have an installed generating capacity of 6,450 MW, and independent studies have shown they would also have serious impacts on fish resources and aquatic life, on the health of the local populations, and due to sediment buildup could flood rainforests in neighboring Bolivia.
The dams were granted preliminary approval in July by Brazilian environmental authorities, even after technical experts of the Brazilian environmental protection service Ibama recommended against licensing the project without new studies being carried out. This led the Bolivian government to protest the dams, and on August 23rd, following several meetings, a decision was made to form three bi-national working groups to study the dams´ potential impacts on Bolivia.
The Bolivian government has handled this matter in an open and transparent way, consulting with and involving civil society groups (CSOs) and independent technical experts in the process. However, Brazil has not made any information available to CSOs, and has scheduled an auction on October 30th to offer the project to private investors and state electric companies.
We need your help to let the Brazilian government know the Madeira River and its unique that this is a matter of concern to the international community – please sign-on the enclosed letter to Brazil´s Foreign Relations Minister – Send your sign-on to Glenn Switkes at International Rivers Network (glenn@irn.org ), preferably by Monday, September 16th –
Thanks for your help!
(TEXT OF LETTER)
(DATE), 2007
Mr. Celso Amorim, Foreign Relations Minister, Brazil
Ms. Dilma Roussef, Presidential Chief-of-Staff, Brazil
Your Excellencies:
We are writing to express our support for the process initiated in August between the republics of Bolivia and Brazil for the formation of bi-national working groups to assess the potential impacts on Bolivia of the Santo Antônio and Jirau dams on the Madeira River, the Amazon´s principal tributary.
Official project studies and independent expert opinions indicate that there is a distinct probability that Bolivia could suffer flooding of territories in Pando province, possibly including the Bruno Racua Wildlife Reserve; loss of fish species and serious impacts on some of the most important fish currently populating the upper Madeira; and health impacts, including proliferation of vectors of malaria and methylation of toxic mercury in the reservoirs.
The need for prior assessment of the possibility of negative impacts of this significance using the “precautionary principle” is affirmed in international treaties, including the Montreal Protocol (1987) and the Rio de Janeiro Declaration on Environment and Development (1992). The Convention on Biological Diversity (1992), which both Bolivia and Brazil have subscribed to, holds that sovereign states have “the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction”.
As the work of these bilateral working groups moves forward, we trust that representatives of civil society organizations (CSOs) and independent technical experts will be guaranteed participation in this process, and that the working group meetings will be conducted in a transparent manner. Given the seriousness of the potential impacts of the dams, these analyses should proceed in a timely manner.
Confident that your Excellencies will do everything possible to promote transparency and the thorough and objective analysis of technical data from official and independent studies, we will anxiously await your response to this letter.
Sincerely,
(undersigned organizations)
Cc: David Choquehuanca
Foreign Relations Minister, Bolivia
Juan Pablo Ramos Morales
Vice Ministro de Biodiversidad, Recursos Forestales y Medio Ambiente, Bolivia
Marina Silva
Environment Minister, Brazil