Mexico

CAUSES of DEFORESTATION
INDEX

Dams and megaprojects

WRM Book on Dams
Articles published in the WRM Bulletin
WRM Special Bulletin on Dams
Other Relevant Information
Calls for action
Links


WRM BOOK ON DAMS
Dams. Struggles against the modern dinosaurs
This book gathers a selection of articles published in the monthly electronic bulletin of the World Rainforest Movement (WRM), addressing the issue of the impacts of large dams on forests and local communities, as well as the struggles developed at the local and global levels against them.

Also available in French and Spanish.

ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN THE WRM BULLETIN
On dams:
2010

Brazil: Women affected by dams – changes in their lifestyles
2009

Hydropower on the Mekong: Where dams may block the future of millions
Burma: The looming social and environmental disaster of the Tasang dam
Mekong Citizens to Hand 15,000 Signature “Save the Mekong” Petition to Thai PM
India: Lepchas arrested for opposing mega hydro project
Save the Mekong, a coalition to keep the river alive

Congo, D.R: Inga dams mean big business for corporations and no benefit for local communities

2008

Dams on the Mekong mainstream would destroy fisheries for millions
The problems faced by Gabon’s forests and the communities that depend on them: a menu of logging, dams, oil, mining, parks, railways, roads, ports
Malaysia: Sarawak forest peoples harassed by logging and dams français português
Burma: Dams in the Irrawaddy River Basin to displace thousands of people in rural areas
2007

Mekong: MRC doing the wrong checking
Laos: Damming the Sekong ­ Norconsult wipes Cambodia off the map
Honduras: The reasons for defending the forest

Laos: Norwegian and Chinese “aid” helps dam the Xeset Riverb
Brazil: Dams would destroy isolated tribe Enawene Nawe’s livelihood
2006

Bolivia: Brazilian dam project threatens the lives of Amazon communities
Laos: Suez Energy International and the Houay Ho dam
Dams as ethnic cleansing: The Burmese junta’s war against the Karenni people
Ghana: A dam at the cost of forests
2005

Laos: Did The World Bank Fudge Figures to Justify Nam Theun 2?
Laos: World Bank finances the Nam Theun 2 dam regardless of its own policies
Laos: Nam Theun 2, the World Bank and corruption
Peru: Community resistance forces Yanacocha Mining Company to retreat
Large dams, climate change and forced eviction
2004

Vietnam: Government repression of Indigenous Peoples
Panama: The Naso people threatened by a dam project
Laos: Dams and the forgotten people of the Boloven Plateau
The Impact of Dams and Resettlement on Women's Lives
2003

Uganda: World Bank attempts to keep the Bujagali dam project alive
Laos: Vietnamese consortium plans to build six dams
Vietnam: Na Hang dam – the reality of sustainable development?
Second Meso-American Forum against Dams
Mexico: Women suffer the effects of market opening doubly
Laos: French company pulls the plug on Nam Theun 2
Laos: Villagers Mount Unprecedented Protest Against Dam in Laos
Belize: Another turn of the screw on the Chalillo dam project
Vietnam starts resettlement to make way for massive Son La dam
Laos: Asian Development Bank to support proposed Nam Theun 2 dam
Laos: The Nam Theun 2 Dam - WWF Thailand's position
Laos: Nam Theun 2 dam - Fighting corruption World Bank style
International Day of Action Against Dams and for Rivers, Water and Life
Skanska pulls out of dam-building . . . or does it?
Burma: Revival of the Weigyi dam
Brazil: Old hydroelectric dam project again threatens Amazon peoples
India: Rainwater harvesters and forest protectors of the Aravalli hills
2002

Uganda: Bujagali dam project comes back under a new disguise
Laos: The impact of the Nam Theun 2 dam on indigenous peoples
Vietnam: Swedish involvement in dam that will hit Cambodians
Uganda: Bujagali dam project questioned by World Bank's Inspection Panel
Brazil: Indigenous peoples restart their struggle against dams on the Xingu river
Central America: International forum against dams
Laos: IUCN's controversial role in the Nam Theun 2 dam
Vietnam: Na Hang dam threatens forests, people and wildlife
Belize: Canadian company to dam the Macal River
2001

Costa Rica: Opposition to hydroelectric dam
Laos: Planned Nam Theun 2 dam leads to increased logging
Indonesia: Mamberamo dam threatens nomadic tribes
Indonesia: ADB will not fund Mamberamo dam
Urgent action against the World Bank's proposed resettlement policy!!
Honduras: Peasants demand Government to halt hydroelectric project
Costa Rica: Indigenous territory threatened by hydroelectric dam
Strangling the life-source of millions: China dams the Mekong
Ghana: What's hidden behind the Bui Dam Project?
New World Bank Resettlement Policy Is Flawed
India: The Dandeli dam project scandal
2000

International Prize awarded to two Mapuche women
Burma: Human rights abuses linked to foreign investment in "development"
Bolivia: Hydroelectric dam project questioned
Uganda: The same old story about dams
Thailand: For the authorities, reality at the Pak Mun dam does not exist
Myanmar: a dam megaproject for the benefit of the people?
Thailand: free the Moon River!
Colombia: The U'wa and Embera join forces
Colombia: "the life and dignity of the Embera people won't be flooded"
Malaysia: why the Selangor Dam?
1999

Colombia: the Embera Katio's struggle for life
Malaysia: the "progress" brought by the Bakun dam in Sarawak
Thailand: letter to the Prime Minister on Rasi Salai dam
The Philippines: dam megaproject resisted
Thailand: local people's resistance to dams
Malaysia: conflict caused by Bakun dam continues in Sarawak
Thailand: Authorities play "Ethnic" and "Nationalist" cards
Brazil: Support for Extractive Reserve on islands of Tucuruí Dam reservoir
Peoples' demonstrations in Thailand
Malaysia: opposition to dam megaproject
Pristine Belize forests threatened by dam project
Dams generate environmental and social destruction in Laos
Thailand: Local people resist dams
Argentina: environmental justice in action
1998

Sarawak: field trip to interview people resettled by dam
Chile: World Bank acknowledges mistake and impacts in the Bio Bio Pangue dam
Defer Resettlement of Bakun residents in Sarawak
Laos: Hydropower megaprojects against forests and people
1997

Laos: dams, conservation and people
Sarawak: Bakun Dam
On other megaproyects:

2009

Bangladesh: Campaign for full implementation of the CHT Peace Accord to help the Jumma peoples regain control over their forests, lands, and destiny
2007

Mexico: Oil palm business at the expense of the poor
2009

Costa Rica: Depredatory tourism takes everything with it
Bolivia: The Amazon peoples discuss their future
2006

The Amazon: IIRSA thinks big, seeking business
India: Adivasis shot dead defending their land against takeover to Tata Steel
2003

Panama: Highway project threatens major biodiversity zone
2002

Chile: Resistance against a highway that will destroy forests and peoples
India: Supreme Court orders closure of a road which threatened the Jarawa's survival
Guatemala: Opposition to highway project threatening forest area
Mexico: The Puebla Panama Plan threathens Los Chimalapas tropical forest
India: Road brings death for isolated tribe
Brazil: Aggravated deforestation rates in Amazonian forests
Burma: New roads pave the way for massive logging
2001

Venezuela: Power line that kills
New World Bank Resettlement Policy Is Flawed
Special Bulletin
2000

Vietnam: Road-building threatens Phong Nha Nature Reserve
1999

Venezuela: the Pemons' struggle
A destructive megaproject for Tehuantepec Isthmus in Mexico
Bolivia: tropical dry forests in danger
1998

Venezuela: forests menaced...plantations promoted
Venezuela: highway blockade against electric transmission line
1997

Indonesia: Mega-project in Central Kalimantan
Brazil: New development projects threaten the Amazon

SPECIAL WRM BULLETIN ON DAMS
Bulletin nº 42 - January 2001 - complete version

For many years, local peoples and environmentalists have been opposing large dams due to the severe social and environmental impacts they entail. Since its creation, the WRM has been an active participant in the fight against dams, and included them as a major cause of forest loss already in its 1989 "Penang Declaration." During the past years, we have been trying to assist local peoples' struggles against dams and reflecting them in almost every issue of our bulletin
(all available at http://www.wrm.org.uy/deforestation/dams.html ).

OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION
Mekong Citizens to Hand 15,000 Signature “Save the Mekong” Petition to Thai PM - Press Release - June 2009
Se viene la mayor batalla de la historia en defensa de la Amazonía boliviana - Pablo Cingolani - July 2007 (only in Spanish)
Hydroelectric Dams and the Forgotten People of the Boloven Plateau
by Phetsavanh Sayboualaven
Represas, los hijos no reconocidos del Plan Puebla Panamá
Boletín especial de Trópico Verde - Guatemala (only in Spanish)
Rivers for Life Proceedings, from the Second International Meeting of Dam-Affected People and their Allies, include regional reports as well as summaries of key issues discussed at Rivers for Life.
held in Rasi Salai, Thailand from November 28-December 3, 2003.
II Encuentro Mundial de Afectados por las Represas
Rasi Salai, Tailandia
28 de noviembre al 4 de diciembre de 2003
publicado en Ecoportal.net
Rivers for Life! The Rasi Salai Declaration
Endorsed at the Second International Meeting of Dam Affected People and their Allies, Rasi Salai, Tailandia, diciembre de 2003.
Declaración del II Foro Mesoamericano Contra las Represas "Por el Agua y la Vida de los Pueblos" (only in Spanish)
La Esperanza Intibuca, Honduras - julio del 2003
Citizens' Guide to the World Commission on Dams
by IRN - March 2002
Declaración del Foro Mesoamericano por la Vida "Agua, Luz y Tierra para los Pueblos" (only in Spanish)
Guatemala, 23 de marzo de 2002
The Report of the World Commission on Dams, November 2000 (Overview available in Deutsch, Español, Français and Português)
Recommended reading: "Silenced Rivers. The Ecology and Politics of Large Dams" - published by Zed Books Ltd - by Patrick McCully
"Dams incorporated. The record of Twelve European Dam building Companies" - published by SSNC - by Chris Lang, Nick Hildyard, Kate Geary and Matthew Grainger
"Dams on the Rocks: The Flawed Economics of Large Hydroelectric Dams" - The Corner House, Briefing 8
World Bank's Revised Draft Policy on Involuntary Resettlement (OP/BP 4.12). This policy permits forcible relocation of indigenous peoples even when it will result in "significant adverse effects" on their "cultural survival."
Salvemos los Ríos y el Agua: Efectos Mundiales de las Represas y en los Pueblos Indígenas y Campesinos
por Gustavo Castro Soto (only in Spanish)
Plan Puebla Panama:
Foro Managua 2002 - "Frente al Plan Puebla Panamá el Movimiento Mesoamericano por la Integración Popular"
CIEPAC - "El Plan Puebla Panamá (PPP)"
Eco Portal - "17 Preguntas y Respuestas para comprender mejor el Plan Puebla Panamá"
Investigacción Rural - "Todo sobre el Plan Puebla Panamá"
RMALC - Plan Puebla Panamá
Acerca - Documents & Photo Gallery about PPP
Battle Over the Future of Southern Mexico and Central America - pdf booklet
Vs. el Plan Puebla Panamá
Corporate Watch - "PPP: Plan Puebla Panama, or Private Plans for Profit?"
12 de Octubre.net - Documentos varios sobre el Plan Puebla Panama
CALLS FOR ACTION

International Day of Action Against Dams and for Rivers, Water & Life
March 14
International Rivers Network is inviting to participate in the International Day of Action Against Dams and for Rivers, Water and Life, which it defines as "a time to join together in solidarity to protest destructive development and celebrate our successes over the last year. It is also a time to fight for social justice and the rights of communities over their resources and lives."

LINKS


Save the Mekong
http://www.savethemekong.org/index.php

The World Commission on Dams: http://www.dams.org/

International Rivers Network: http://www.irn.org/
IRN supports local communities working to protect their rivers and watersheds. It works to halt destructive river development projects, and to encourage equitable and sustainable methods of meeting needs for water, energy and flood management.

Rivernet: http://www.rivernet.org/
A service provided by ERN (European Rivers Network). The aim of ERN and RiverNet is to interconnect all forces working for living rivers and to provide information on river-basins and organizations.

Magic River: http://www.magickriver.com

Friends of River Narmada: http://www.narmada.org/
The construction of large dams on the River Narmada in central India and its impact on millions of people living in the river valley has become one of the most important social issues in contemporary India. The friends of the Narmada valley and its people hope to present here the perspective of grassroots people's organisations on the issue.

Probe International: http://www.probeinternational.org/

Berne Declaration: http://www.evb.ch/kampagne.cfm?folder_id=159

Rivers, Dams and Climate Change
http://www.irn.org/programs/greenhouse/

Salween Watch: http://www.salweenwatch.org/