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Posted on 22nd November
Belize
To Butcher Rainforest
(Photo shows rare Scarlet macaw)
The government of Belize (a small country next to another small
country,
Guatemala, in Central America) has decided to approve construction
of a
massive hydroelectric dam in a jungle valley, destroying some
of the
richest rainforest habitat in the country. The Chalillo Dam
is expected to
flood 1,100 hectares (2,718 acres) of pristine forest, engulfing
the
valleys of the Macal and Raspaculo rivers. The dam will flood
one of the
only known nesting areas for the Belize scarlet macaw.
The Belize National Environmental Appraisal Committee (NEAC)
announced
Tuesday that "subsequent to several sessions to diligently review
the
Environmental Impact Assessment" on the proposed Macal River
Upstream
Storage Facility (MRUSF), the government has granted environmental
clearance for the project. "The NEAC is satisfied that the benefits
of the
MRUSF project outweighs the environmental costs and that most
of the
adverse effects can be mitigated and/or managed through the
implementation
of a sound environmental compliance plan," the committee said
in a press
release.
The government clearance is conditional upon the development
of an
Environmental Compliance Plan (ECP), which will incorporate
the mitigation
measures identified in the environmental impact assessment,
along with
others recommended during the evaluation process. The development
of the
ECP has already begun, the committee said, and will specify
the detailed
mitigation measures, time frame and budget associated with their
implementation. Public hearings are being planned to present
the
information that the NEAC used in its decision making, including
the
conditions upon which clearance is being granted.
The dam project will destroy river valley ecosystems that are
the country's
most productive wildlife zones. The remote jungle valleys that
the project
will flood are nestled between the Central Maya mountains near
the
Guatemalan border. The region provides one of the last large
havens for the
nation's wealth of biodiversity. Bruce Miller, a biologist with
the
Wildlife Conservation Society, called the region the most singularly
unique
for wildlife in Belize. The area is home to endangered Central
American
tapirs, southern river otters, and Morelets crocodiles. Many
North American
migratory birds overwinter here. It is one of the only known
nesting sites
for a rare sub-species of scarlet macaw, whose numbers have
dwindled below
200 in Belize. Over most of its range, the scarlet macaw is
endangered, and
many have been captured for the pet trade. "We are gambling
with our
natural resources, treasures that are not duplicated anywhere
else in the
region," said Matola, a vocal opponent of the project.
A 1992 Environmental Impact Assessment produced by Agra CI Power
Ltd.,
estimated that "over 90 percent of riparian (riverine) habitat
would be
destroyed," if the dam were built. The report, by a subsidiary
of Agra,
Inc., a Canadian based international engineering, construction
and
technology company, predicted that serious environmental damage
would occur
downriver from the proposed dam site, impacting the lives of
people who
depend on the river for sustenance. The Agra assessment found
that the dam
could kill fish by generating sulfide gases as vegetation rotted
in the
reservoir, and by changing seasonal river flows. The assessment
also raised
the issue of possible impact on the marine environment. The
Macal River
feeds the Belize River, which empties into the Caribbean Sea.
Off shore
stands the largest barrier reef in the Western hemisphere, a
popular
destination for tourists from around the globe.
Tourism is currently the largest contributor to the country's
Gross
National Product. "It took millions of years of evolution for
this habitat
to reach its current unique state. It is unacceptable to trade
that for a
dam, which under the best of circumstances, would provide electricity
for
perhaps 50 years. This is environmental crime of the highest
degree,"
warned Matola.
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