Protected areas as strategies for preserving vegetation cover in the vicinity of hydroelectric projects in the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

Background: There are several studies associating the construction of power plants to the increase in deforestation rates. However, there are no case studies analyzing deforestation near power plants, seeking to find a logic of how such deforestation occurs and attributing a statistical correlation with some factors that may mitigate or potentiate such deforestation. This study fills this gap on the scientific literature. Although it analyzes four cases, it is relevant given the lack of publications on this topic. Methods: In this study, a comparative analysis of deforestation was conducted in the vicinity of four hydroelectric plant projects in the Amazon forest, aiming particularly to identify measures related to the creation of areas of restricted use, protected areas, and indigenous lands, as a way to minimize the predatory occupation around reservoirs. Results: The results showed that there is a strong negative correlation between the extension of indigenous lands and protected areas and deforestation in the vicinity of the power plants analyzed, even when they are located in areas with a high level of human occupation. This study also revealed, by Pearson correlation analyses, that there are few pairs of variables whose correlations are weak or very weak. There are predominantly moderate, strong, and very strong correlations. Conclusions: Thus, it is suggested that new hydroelectric plant projects in the Amazon should prioritize the creation of areas of restricted use and discourage occupation through settlements and opening of roads, as these variables were determinant for the level of degradation to the environment around the construction works analyzed.

Impacts of the Victoria Nile Bujagali hydropower dam on fisheries and livelihoods

“…The critically endangered species L. victorianus was occasionally encountered in the commercial catches, mostly from the upstream sites, a further indication that the species are under threated and the need to protect them from getting extinct. The near decimation of these species could have been due to overfishing, habitat alteration, and probably predation pressure from Lates niloticus (Nile perch) and interspecific competition by Oreochromis niloticus as earlier reported (Chapman et al, 1996;Ogutu-Ohwayo, 1993;Anders Carlson, 2007; Mbabazi, Ogutu-Ohwayo, Wandera, & Kiziito, 2004;Mwanja, Mwanja, Muwanika, Masembe, & Nyakaana, 2012). The changes in catch composition, and abundance in the commercial catch during the study period could suggest the coupling effects of the hydropower dam activities and ineffective fisheries management.…”

“…Fish reproduction and feeding zones may be separated by distances that may vary from a few meters to hundreds of kilometers. Moreover, large‐scale hydroelectric projects are also associated with road construction, deforestation and urban development, and sewage disposal in surrounding regions (da Silva Junior, dos Santos, Szlafsztein, Gomez, & Pereira, 2018; Stickler et al, 2013), which may act synergistically with altered flow regimes to impact aquatic ecosystem health and therefore biodiversity and production. Dams cause significant direct loss of fish in turbines or spillways during migration but also lead to habitat loss, discharge modifications, water quality and temperature changes, and increased predation pressure; (Jellyman & Harding, 2012; Marmulla, 2001; Rytwinski et al, 2017).…”

“…However, this part of the River Nile that flows northwards from Lake Victoria through Lake Kyoga northwards to Lake Albert and ultimately to the Mediterranean sea is known for harboring endemic species as well as supporting the livelihoods of riparian communities with several exploited endemic and alien species including Lates niloticus, Oreochromis niloticus, Rastrineobola argentea, Labeo barbus altianalis, Labeo victorianus, and Mormyrus kannume (Bassa et al, 2020;Nelson et al, 2013;Witte et al, 1992). Some studies have observed that the UVN is the faunal refugia to critically endangered fish species such as L. victorianus (Chapman, Chapman, Kaufman, Witte, & Balirwa, 2008;NaFIRRI, 2017) and is habitat to a rare haplochromine species, Neochromis simotes (Chapman et al, 1996;Greenwood, 1976;Ogutu-Ohwayo, 1988;Wilmsen & Van Hulten, 2017;Witte et al, 1992;Witte et al, 2008). Besides providing fisheries resources, the UVN is a major source of water for domestic industrial use, irrigation and electricity generation (NAPE, 2007).…”

Do indigenous territories sustain the standing Amazon forest? The case of the Sete de Setembro Indigenous Land

“…Deforestation and forest fires are one of the greatest threats to the Amazon biome (Silva Junior, et al, 2018). Carvalho et al (2016) estimated that deforestation contributed only 0.14% to the growth of the Brazilian gross domestic product, in the years 2006 to 2011, adding in reais 75.3 thousand per km² and 5.9 billion nationally, which did not it is effective to the economy to the point of suppressing the negative effects caused by the degradation of the biome.…”