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Published: April 22nd 2012
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Today I visited an Ecomuseum, this one is based near the border of Paraguay next to the enormous Itaipu Dam. I will tell you more of the actual construction, workings and experience of the Dam next time but for today and the for the Ecomuseum I will concentrate on the planning that went into the Dam.
So if you are going to build a Dam, particulary one of this impressive size it turns out that there are an awful lot of things to think about. Not only do you need the right location and resources to begin such an operation but you also need to think about the social and environmental impacts of your work and this is what the Ecomuseum tells us about.
The Itaipu Dam stands on the Paraná river, the natural border between Paraguay and Brazil that I have spoken to you about before. There is no doubt that the Dam has brought many positive rewards for both countries but there were many compromises to be made in the beginning, not least in terms of the impact on the beautiful environment surrounding this important and very long river, the second longest in South America, only beaten
by the Amazon itself.
In order to build a Dam that is over 7,800m long with a reservoir that covers almost 1,350km² you need to claim lands that are already being used for other purposes. This was a concern that caused some debate and quickly became a priority for the planners. The building of the Dam resulted in the loss of over 700km² of forest and natural grasslands. 50% of the Brazilian land taken up by the Dam and river was previously used for agriculture and the other 50% was forestland; for Paraguay 82% was native grassland and just 13% forest. Very quickly Itaipu worked to prevent further damage and to try to restore as much as they could, thousands of trees and plants were transplanted to a protected area and reforestation took place on a grand scale.
The social cost of the Project was also an area of focus. It is reported that over 10,000 people lost the land that they lived on, this was a particularly big problem on the Paraguayan side and caused a lot of upset among the people of Paraguay. However it is difficult to know whether or not this number is accurate
as it is not advertised nor discussed openly. The people who were forced to move mainly belonged to the Guaraní tribes, a people who suffered in terms of losing their land and in terms of losing their livelihood and means of getting food as the river´s course was changed and the land and water that they lived on for many many years was now very different. Speaking to Brazilians about this, most are very worried that the same will happen again as there is another Dam, just as big, planned for an area of the Amazon River. This means that some of the indigenous tribes of the Amazon will be relocated, losing everything that they know and losing the way of life that they understand. Much campaigning has gone into saving these people and their homes but to date the Dam is going ahead as planned.
When it comes to Itaipu though, the organisation is quick to point out the efforts that went into helping these people and to highlight the money and jobs that the Dam has brought into both countries. During the first few years of building the Dam the population of Foz do Iguaçu increased by
almost 400% and Itaipu developed three new housing areas; Vila A, Vila B and Vila C. Originally built for the 40,000 workers who contributed to the Project, they are still used now mainly by the employees of the Dam and have become established and thriving areas.
The impact on the animals, birds, mammals, reptiles and insects was huge and the Dam planners created a Biological Refuge. I hope to this visit this soon and if I can I will tell you all about it.
The Ecomusuem itself is a very interesting place to visit, as well as detailing all of the above for you it also houses many scale models of the Dam and the surrounding area. One of the models that I particularly liked covered the floor of a large room, it was covered by a raised glass platform that you walked acorss, a strange feeling but seeing the view from the sky as it were gives you a much better understanding of the Dam´s position and puts it all into perspective. It is also clear from the model how the Dam impacts on the Waterfalls. When building the Dam, Argentina also took part in the planning to a limited extent as the Dam limits the amount of water flowing into the Iguaçu river where the three countries meet, thus limiting the level of water in the natural border between Argentina and Brazil and in turn the amount of water passing through the Iguaçu Falls.
So, I will leave you now however, next time I will take you inside the Dam...
Take care,
Tasha
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