Para, Brazil. February 12, 2012. Construction of the Belo Monte Dam project, near Altamira. The Belo Monte Dam will be the third largest in the world, submerging 400,000 hectares and displacing 20,000 people. Approximate coordinates: --3.280239-51.89926. Belo Monte is a controversial hydropower plant that is being built in the Xingu River, one of the largest rivers in the Amazon basin. For 20 years indigenous groups, rural communitties and environmentalists have fought against the construction. President Dilma authorized the building after a highly controversial and disrespectful licensing process. Greenpeace flew over the area where the dam will be built (known as Volta Grande) and Altamira, the city that is the base for the building project, to expose the increase of deforestation in the region. Our aerial images expose massive construction and considerable environmental destruction that has not yet been documented visually, they will be some of the first compelling images to be circulated of the impacts of the construction.
© Daniel Beltrá / Greenpeace