16,000 Hectares to be Flooded in Chile

Chile wants to make progress, but… does that progress always have to be against nature? Chile’s government is planning a project that could put 4,6 million hectares of the environment in danger.

They are planning to build five hydroelectric dams and a high tension line that will be the largest in the world. It will cross Chile from south to north and thus divide it in two.

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You read the paragraphs above and at first you may think it’s good, but no. It’s bad news to the environment. It will generate a lot of energy, renewable energy, yes. It’s going to be a record, yes. It’s a huge commercial and industrial project. But what will happen to all that land under water to keep those five big dams functioning? I already said it: it will be under water, all 16,000 hectares.

A big dam causes the rivers of the region to change. The margins will change. The land surrounding the rivers will change. Land full of life, with native forests, and native fauna will be washed out; flooded.

And we aren’t only talking about these five dams. They will build a huge high tension line that will cross green lands with unique fauna and flora. The trees will suffer and be cut down so the big high tension towers will have room.

The line will extend 2200 kilometers from the south of Chile to Santiago, the capital. And an additional 1300 kilometers will run to the north of the country, to the mines of Atacama.

The people of the region are very angry. In Santiago, 2,200 kilometers away, they are proud and happy. But the locals will lose their homes, others will lose their jobs because the tourists will no longer come to see the beautiful landscape now that the government is planning to flood the area.

Some locals are active, and they have published a book with pictures of the landscape now and in the future when the five dams will be completed. Because of their actions the government has agree to decrease the amount of land to be flooded (mainly because of the tourist industry).

Why? Why always progress have to be in conflict with nature?

Via BlogVerde

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