Brazil gives Amazon dams go-ahead (BBC)

By Gary Duffy
BBC News, Sao Paulo

Brazil has given the initial go-ahead for the construction of two hydro-electric dams to be built on the longest tributary of the Amazon River.

The Madeira River projects have divided opinion even within government and in recent years have been one of the most environmentally sensitive issues.

The river is said to have one of the most diverse fish stocks in the world.

Environmentalists fear they could be threatened by the development of the dams costing billions of dollars.

Such have been the sensitivities surrounding this decision that Brazil's environmental agency Ibama took two years to reach this initial conclusion and even now has attached 33 conditions to the project.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6286804.stm

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