A Brief Note On The Una Basin And Its Social Impacts

The origins of the Belo Monte project heralds from an earlier plan schemed in the 80’s that would have a total of seven dams up and down the Xingu River, one of the last open tributaries of Amazon. Then called the Kararaô Complex, it was opposed and struck down in 1989 by the organization of indigenous and environmental groups that attracted a lot of media coverage (“Brazil’s”). At that time the project would have flooded 18,000 square kilometers of land, compared to the 668 square kilometers that will be flooded now. Obviously it would have affected far more than just the indigenous and riverine people of the Xingu River basin, and was easier to oppose due to the little review of the initial project and the fact that the peoples directly affected by it were never consulted before it was approved by the Brazilian government. After the crushing defeat of the Kararaô Complex the government reworked the entire project and quietly went through all the correct avenues to being approved while simultaneously ignoring injunctions against it (“Histόrico”). The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that was required by the government found that the dam would “directly effect” only 1,500 kilometers, and did not consider the indirect impacts of the drying of the 100 kilometer “Big Bend” area that sustains at least three indigenous groups. From there in 2010 the project was approved and privatized to the Norte Energia Consortium

Brazil, like many Latin American nations, is a country undergoing rapid change. The nation’s push to transition from newly industrialized to develop country has forever altered Brazil’s physical geography, level of development, and economic activity.

Poor rural communities are at a disadvantage when it comes to obtaining and utilizing resources. Education and health facilities are not readily available, water supply and sewage systems are generally inadequate, and the people face severe constraints in accessing technology and infrastructure (IFAD). Unlike the urbanized regions in Brazil, there are no ports in the northern area which makes agriculture far less important. Off-farm incomes have grown, and at least 30% of rural people are engaged in

During the previous years, one of the biggest threats the world as a whole faces is the destruction of our environment, mainly through deforestation. Deforestation is the destruction of forests in order to increase land usage for agriculture, grazing and urban development. Generally forest clearers cut or burn the trees to clear land. Deforestation is one of the major causes of environmental problems in Brazil with the rate it is developing. Brazil's development is coming at a time when scientists believe that the loss of the Amazon's forests, the Atlantic forest and the Cerrado will affect the way the planet functions. Brazil has the most amount of forest in the world, if the cutting of forests keeps going on this way it will affect the water

Brazil was noted as having a fast-growing agricultural sector and the concern regarding deforestation has grown. In turn, efforts have been made to protect land by granted protection status to over 500,000 sq. km of the Amazon rainforest. Efforts such as these have been successful in limiting the destruction of deforestation.

Amongst the world, there are many controversial issues related to globalization and within the environment that many scholars delegate prolonged hours into research. With globalization rapidly intensifying, one specific aspect is the incredible amount of land use changes occurring globally, which have in turn embellished altering effects within societies particularly Brazil. Globalization and more abstractly speaking land use changes have often at times caused many cases of reformation amongst communities, having altered the livelihoods of many. One of the greatest and most widely debated topics over the environment within the past century is deforestation within the Amazonian region in Brazil, and continues to play a key role in many indigenous

As the largest economy in Latin America and seventh largest (by nominal GDP) in the world, the Brazilian economy is experiencing many positive effects, characterized by it’s inward-oriented economy and moderate free-market trading, it has a diverse and sophisticated services industryi. Although undergoing extensive makeover, the financial sector provides local businesses with a wide variety of products and is successfully bringing in new entrants, creating an upturn in the economy, and furthermore incentivizing rural inhabitants to move to the more urban spacesii. What is most striking about its urbanization process is the rapid and advanced development that it has undergone. For a process that took North America and Europe almost 150

This problem associated with the environmental social crisis is not only in just Latin America alone but been an issue many people in developing countries face. Children lose their lives every day because of dirty drinking water and access to toilets. Lack of safe clean water and toilet put their life at risk of communicable disease. Many of the developing countries also do not have social institutions that is a major sphere of their citizens’ social life, let alone to meet their basic human needs (Macionis, 2010). However, through Latin America water crisis, the nonprofit organization took charge and started the organization to help the country with the issue and raised an awareness to draw people’s attention while pursuing them to support their work. In 2003, the organization established the WaterCredit Initiative, which long-term goal is to continue to support the developing countries by providing them with loans that attest to their mission plan to provide families with safe clean water and sanitation. For more than 25 years, the organization has built financial solutions and stability to address one of the world’s most important issues that are faced in developing countries (Water.org). The organization has impacted 12 million people with access to safe clean water and sanitation around the world in countries such as Latin America, Africa, and

From the formation of these slums, the government never paid much attention to the welfare of these residents. The members of these favelas began to work together to provide medical care, methods of transportation and other necessities to one another. They lived in silence in the first half of the twentieth century until they began to attract political attention near the second half of the twentieth century. Due to the favelas being located near Rio’s most affluent neighborhoods, the Brazilian government attempted to eradicate the favelas. However, they failed to address the root causes of Rio’s poverty-stricken areas and the favela population maintained their expansion unwaveringly through the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s. The government lost hope in the evacuation of the favelas and abandoned their endeavor in the late 1970s.

Sao Paulo, the largest city in Brazil as well in South America, is located in the southeast region.The population in this city is approximately over 10 million people living in Sao Paulo. Italians,Japanese, Chinese and Arab are the principal ethnic group (“Sao Paulo introduction”, n.d.). One side of the city is next to mountain and another side is next to the sea. The weather is normally warm and tropical all year. The environment of the city is beautiful and plentiful of resources, however, it causes to pollution problems (“Air quality”, n.d.). Sao Paulo is the most significant economic hub of the nation's commercial, cultural life and financial service industry, but the gross domestic product (GDP) is in the fifth rank of the country. Consequently,

Brazil is currently the fifth most populated country throughout the world. It is also the fifth largest country in size in the world. The current social situation in Brazil is quite unpleasant. There are many social, racial, and economic injustices portrayed in the metropolitan areas of Brazil. Two very important issues that are currently occurring in Brazil would be the social injustices that take places in Brazil’s urban areas. Another would be the deforestation and the socioeconomic results of it. The city of Sao Paulo remains to place in the top 7 most populated cities in the world.

Rio de Janeiro is a seaside city in Brazil. It is the second largest city in Brazil and third largest metropolis in all of South America (Encyclopedia). Rio de Janeiro is widely known for their favelas, which are the slums in Brazil within its urban areas. Favelas were created at the end of the nineteenth century, when Brazil was transitioning from a monarchy to a republic (Brown University). By the 1920s, the city had become an important industrial center with a population exceeding one million people (Advameg Inc.). By the 1940s, the population of Rio had nearly grown to two million people and the government could no longer control urban growth, as skyscrapers and large apartment buildings were eradicated replacing the older, smaller community

The Basin’s water use is for agriculture. Most of the irrigated area is used to grow crops and food. Some crops such as vegetables, fruit and nuts harvest high prices for not much water use, but others crops such as rice yield lower value for high levels of water use.

São Paulo is Brazil’s largest urban area, in 1980 it ranked among the most populous cities in the world. In 2014, the city was responsible for approximately 10 percent of Brazil’s overall population and consequently ranked as the tenth largest urban area in 2014. In 2016 the city was reported to house more than 44 million residents, with 57 percent of its population concentrated in the central city. By 2030, the city is expected to have a population of approximately 23 million. São Paulo’s contradicting statistics in employment and unemployment rates, slum population, and future inhabitant population stems from discrepancies concerning possible varied data collection methodologies and the period in time at which the data was collected. Currently

Even with the low nutrient filled waters, Brazil boasts coasts with diverse ecosystems due to the length of the coastline. This lengthy coastline incudes’ “the world’s largest estuary in the Amazon River Plume; the longest beach, Cassino Beach… and the largest coastal lagoon, Patos Lagoon” to list some examples of the different ecosystems found in this area (Brandini, 2013, p2127). Brazil is seen as a maritime country due to the numerous marine resources available. These resources have drawn in fishing, tourism, commerce, transportation, real estate, and mariculture opportunities. While these resources have drawn in profit, their sustainability is also threatened by the demand that they are being faced with (Brandini, 2013). One of the areas that has found to have higher instances of effecting the ecosystems’ sustainability and biodiversity is the current fishing practices (Brandini, 2013).