Highways, railroads, hydroelectric power plants, and ports are generally synonymous with progress and development. But it is also correct to state that large infrastructure projects are not neutral in terms of environmental impact. Therefore, large development projects are required to go through an environmental licensing process.

Historically, environmental impact studies in Brazil are conducted by the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), and they have already interrupted or shelved countless construction projects. This is the case of the São Luiz do Tapajós Hydroelectric Power Plant, whose environmental license application was shelved by Ibama in 2016.

In the case of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Power Plant, several scientists warned, from the beginning of the environmental impact studies, about the plant’s many permanent negative effects. The award of the license went to Court and faced a long process of conditions that are still being discussed.

In November 2015, Ibama issued Belo Monte’s Operating License even though it found that there were pending liabilities in the resettlement of affected populations, implementation of actions in indigenous territories, basic sanitation, among others.

For those who live near the Xingu River, the impact is felt to these days. The lake formed by the hydroelectric power plant to produce energy altered forever the cycle of floods and ebb tides of the river, affecting the way of life of the populations that live in the Xingu Big Bend area. 

In the dry season, traveling by river becomes impossible, as does fishing, one of the main activities of subsistence of indigenous people and river dwellers in the Amazon. For the Yudjá ethnicity, these changes impact their canoe culture: “Without the river we are nothing, because we are a canoe people who live off the river”, says 19-year-old Anita Juruna.