The São Luiz do Tapajós Dam was expected to be the third largest hydroelectric dam in Brazil, after Itaipu and

Belo Monte Dam The Belo Monte Dam (''formerly known as'' Kararaô) is a hydroelectric dam complex on the northern part of the Xingu River in the state of Pará, Brazil. After its completion, with the installation of its 18th turbine, in November 2019, the in ...

. It would have an installed capacity of 8,040 MW and its reservoir would cover about 400 km² in the

Tapajós The Tapajós ( ) is a river in Brazil. It runs through the Amazon Rainforest and is a major tributary of the Amazon River. When combined with the Juruena River, the Tapajós is approximately long. Prior to a drastic increase in illegal gold mi ...

river basin. The plant would have been part of the proposed

Tapajós hydroelectric complex The Tapajós hydroelectric complex () is a proposed complex of hydroelectric dams on the Tapajós and Jamanxim River, Jamanxim rivers in the state of Pará, Brazil. The Tapajós dams would contain locks, thus converting the river into a navigable ...

on the Tapajos and Jamanxim rivers. Others are the Jatobá, Cachoeira dos Patos, Jamanxim and Cachoeira do Cai dams, all in Pará state. In April 2016

IBAMA The Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources ( Portuguese: ''Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis'', IBAMA) is a government agency under the administration of the Brazilian Minis ...

suspended the environmental licensing process for the dam due to its expected impacts on indigenous and river communities. In August that year,

finally announced the official cancellation of the project's environmental license, which effectively stopped the dam. The conflict around the São Luiz do Tapajós mega dam has been referred as the next battle over saving the Amazon, as a result of its controversy involving Indigenous communities, the Brazilian government, large multinationals and international environmental organizations. Critics say the project will further result in deforestation and harm to the region's

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

, affecting the migratory movements of several species of ornamental fish and destroying nests of

Macaw Macaws are a group of Neotropical parrot, New World parrots that are long-tailed and often colorful, in the Tribe (biology), tribe Arini (tribe), Arini. They are popular in aviculture or as companion parrots, although there are conservation con ...

Licensing process

The Brazilian environmental agency

first decided to suspend and ultimately cancel the environmental licensing process for the Tapajós mega dam in 2016, following a report published by the Brazilian bureau for Indigenous Affairs

FUNAI is a Japanese consumer electronics company headquartered in Daitō, Osaka. Currently, it is in liquidation. Apart from producing its own branded electronic products, it was also an OEM providing assembled televisions and video players/recor ...

. The report points out the infeasibility of the project from an indigenous perspective, since it would affect the land of the local

Munduruku The Munduruku, also known as Mundurucu or Wuy Jugu, are an indigenous people of Brazil living in the Amazon River basin. Some Munduruku communities are part of the Coatá-Laranjal Indigenous Land. They had an estimated population in 2014 of 13 ...

people. In its report, FUNAI recommends the demarcation of 1,780 square kilometers (687 square miles) of Munduruku land, the

Sawré Muybu Indigenous Territory The Sawré Muybu Indigenous Territory (), also called the Daje Kapap Eipi, is an Indigenous territory (Brazil), indigenous territory of Munduruku people in the state of Pará, Brazil. It includes land that is sacred to the Mundurukus. Issuance of ...

, in the vicinity of the proposed mega dam.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sao Luiz do Tapajos Dam Dams in Pará Dam controversies Hydroelectric power stations in Brazil Proposed hydroelectric power stations Proposed renewable energy power stations in Brazil