Tuesday January 18, 2011, 1:10 pm
If built, the Belo Monte dam would flood a large area of land, bring huge devastation to the rainforest and reduce fish stocks upon which the Indians rely for their survival.

The uncontacted Indians in the area are particularly threatened by the large-scale immigration the dam construction would bring, as they have little resistance to outside diseases, which could be fatal for them.

Indians of the Asurini tribe who also live in the area have warned that they have seen uncontacted Indians in the forest, and that these Indians are seriously threatened by the dam.

Meanwhile, the president of the Brazilian government’s environmental agency IBAMA, Abelardo Bayma, resigned last week, reportedly following pressure to grant the construction license for the Belo Monte dam despite environmental concerns.

Brazil’s Minister of Mines and Energy, Edson Lobão, has stated that the construction license for the dam will be issued shortly. It is thought that construction could commence in February this year.

Survival International is campaigning for the land of all uncontacted Indians to be protected.

Sign an international petition on the Avaaz website, calling on Brazil’s new President Dilma Rousseff to prevent the construction of Belo Monte.

269,479 have signed the petition. Help us get to 300,000!:)

Tuesday January 18, 2011, 3:05 pm
Will people ever learn!?

Tuesday January 18, 2011, 3:06 pm
thank you Cal, noted

Tuesday January 18, 2011, 11:49 pm
Will certainly sign this petition - thanks Cal.

Wednesday January 19, 2011, 1:51 am
This dam will be an ecological, global warming and human disaster.

Wednesday January 19, 2011, 9:47 pm
Isn't funny how everyone can see how atrocious this is when viewed in movies like Avatar, but when it comes to "real life", greed always triumphs.

Wednesday January 19, 2011, 10:16 pm
Cal, It seems like I've been Signing this same Petition for years. Money knows no bounds. Leave the Indigenous Peoples alone.I hope this new Presidente does the right thing and doesn't go the way of Greed. Kudos to that guy that Resigned his Job because he felt so strongely about it. God will surely reward him ten-fold. I agree with Alexandra about the Ecological Impact this will have on the Rainforest.

Wednesday January 19, 2011, 11:28 pm
As a Brazilian , I am agianst Belo Monte . We have to respect indians zones . This will be terrible for them and for the forrest .

Thursday January 20, 2011, 12:37 pm
How many petitions must we sign before we give up?

Tuesday January 25, 2011, 1:06 am
ok thx