Amazon Dams Program: Advancing Integrative Research on Social-ecological Dynamics of Hydroelectricity Production in the Brazilian Amazon

Transcription

1 Amazon Dams Program: Advancing Integrative Research on Social-ecological Dynamics of Hydroelectricity Production in the Brazilian Amazon UF Faculty: Simone Athayde TCD/Latam Stephanie Bohlman - SFRC Jynessa Dutka-Gianelli - SFRC David Kaplan Env. Engineering Bette Loiselle TCD/Latam Marianne Schmink Anthro/Latam Kai Lorenzen SFRC Anthony Oliver-Smith Anthro Denis Valle SFRC Mason Mathews TCD/Latam Brazilian Researchers: Carolina Doria UNIR Elineide Marques - UFT USGS: Theodore Melis UF Students: Kelsie Timpe SNRE Charles Crones - Anthropology Marliz Arteaga - TCD Water Institute Symposium, February 11, 2014

2 Presentation Outline Background and History Need for Integrative Research on Dams, Environment and Society Integrative Themes and Framework Challenges and Future Directions

3 WATER ENERGY - SUSTAINABILITY NEXUS HYDROELECTRIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE AMAZON 1 billion dollar question: How might we reconcile energy production with protection of water resources while promoting economic growth and social justice?

4 Hydroelectricity in Brazil Former Seven Falls Brazil has historically had a hydroelectric vocation rivers systems and potential Hydroelectricity is cheaper and less pollutant/risky compared to other sources Itaipu Dam, at border of Brazil and Paraguay 2 nd largest in the world, finished in 1982

5 Demand for Electricity Year Consumption TWh GDP ( US$ trillion) * 3,9 * ,7** ,0** 4,77% yearly *verified; ** forecast Source: Fernando Prado, ,0 % yearly Pirâmide de renda virou losango Melhora na distribuição de renda Social Classes Brasileiros Movement nas Classes in Brazil A, B, C, D e E Big São Paulo 19 million people Classes AB 26.4 mi Classe C 62.7mi Classes AB 42.2mi Classe C 101.7mi Classes DE 92.9mi Classes DE 47.9mi

6 Damming the Amazon Hydro-thermal system 80% of electricity from hydropower Black-outs (2001, 2014!) Government Plan for Accelerated Growth (PAC) Amazon is next frontier Economic, industrial and population growth

7 Madeira River Xingu/Belo Monte Tocantins River Network of dams planned for main Amazon tributaries in Brazil and in other neighboring countries (e.g. Bolivia and Peru). Part of broader policies for infra-structural development in Latin America [geopolitical implications] Source: International Rivers and ISA

8 Benefits: Benefits, Negative Impacts and Conflicts Increased energy supply in Brazil with reduced risks of energy rationing and blackouts. Clean, cheap, secure and efficient energy production. Dams in Amazon compensate for dry season in other areas (storage of energy in reservoirs). Local and regional development, new jobs.

9 Negative Impacts: Ecological Dimension Flooding or impacting conservation areas: loss of biodiversity, habitat fragmentation, displacement of wildlife, impacts on migratory fish. Land use and land cover change directly and indirectly (e.g. deforestation, resettlement projects, construction of roads, urbanization). Climate change draughts, elevation in temperature, exacerbating El Nino, consequences for global climate.

10 Negative Impacts Social Dimension Flooding of indigenous lands. Resettlement of urban and urban residents. Ruined livelihoods. River-based activities more difficult or unviable. Violation of human rights. Social injustice: Unfair compensations and sharing of benefits. Food insecurity

11 Informing decision and policy-making Understanding and managing socialecological impacts Supporting mitigation and management procedures In this scenario, what might be the role of scientific research and graduate education? Facilitating connection and dialogue between diverse stakeholders Providing information for diverse actors Recognizing uncertainties and risk

12 Gaps and Need for Integrative Research Lack of baseline data and continued research to inform understanding and management of long-term impacts. Lack of integration between researchers, institutions, watersheds and disciplinary fields (knowledge restricted to disciplinary fields and themes (e.g. fisheries, social impacts, climate change). Lack of rigorous research and reliable data to inform Environmental Impact Assessments and decision-making. Lack of dialogue between science, government, social actors and NGOs.

13 Osvaldo Cruz and FUNASA Public Health Federal University of Tocantins and State University of Maringa Fish and Fisheries Preliminary analysis of peer-reviewed publications on Amazon dams, restricted to institutional clusters and disciplinary fields. Mathews et al. (ongoing research)

14 Amazon Dams Program UF international programs and capacity-building in Brazil Tropical Conservation and Development Program and Amazon Conservation Leadership Initiative. International Symposium: January International cooperation program between Brazilian and US researchers: integrating knowledge across watersheds, countries, disciplinary fields, institutions and stakeholders. Currently: 5 Brazilian Universities, University of Florida and USGS Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center. Around 40 researchers and students. Three funded projects: Two by Brazilian Scientific Agency CAPES and UF Office of Research.

15 OBJECTIVES Integrate, synthesize, and share scientific, government, and citizen knowledge across study sites; Promote knowledge exchange about adaptive management and use of river ecosystem modeling between the US and Brazil; Advance learning, theoretical and methodological approaches in inter- and trans-disciplinary research on social-ecological systems; Provide insights and recommendations for planning, management, monitoring and decision-making in existing and future hydroelectric dam construction projects.

16 Map of institutions and universities involved in Brazil and in the US. Working groups, involvement of students, training and capacity building, faculty exchange, events in US and Brazil, joint research and publications. Training for practitioners establishing socialenvironmental participatory monitoring among indigenous peoples affected by Belo Monte dam.

17 Core concepts and Spatial-temporal Scales Adaptive management: long-term and retroactive learning about the system to better manage the system. Learning across case-studies and countries. Integrative research: co-production and sharing of knowledge across disciplinary fields, actors and institutions within academia (interdisciplinarity) and between science and society (transdisciplinarity). Temporal scale: Stages of dam implementation: planning, building, mitigating and monitoring. Geopolitical/Spatial scale: case-studies, scaling up and down from local to regional, national and global processes.

18 Integrative Themes and Conceptual Framework Governance and social actors Livelihoods and Public Health Fish and Fisheries Social-ecological system transformed by hydroelectric dams River Hydrology Geomorphology and Engineering Climate change Land-use and land-cover change

19 Networks, inter -and transdisciplinarity, national and international collaboration NESTED FRAMEWORK Integrative Research Adaptive Management RESEARCHSHARI NG Data management Participatory research and monitoring selected sites and actors Data collection, synthesizing, sharing and analysis Integrative themes Case-studies: Learning across sites and experiences

20 Social organization Catch effort Local knowledge Access to markets Market value Livelihood strategies Interdisciplinarity Diversity Integration Networking Diversity Abundance Reproduction Forest Deforestation Habitat fragmentation Organization Customary laws Information Decision-making Sediment and water flow Water level variation Type of power plant (reservoir/ run-off-the-river) Policy enforcement Regulation Monitoring Coordination

21 Challenges Coordination between researchers, disciplinary fields and institutions. Scale mismatch between interests, priorities, policies and benefit-sharing at local, regional, national and global scales. Time mismatch between rigorous scientific research, development priorities and policy decisions. Lack of consistent baseline data in the various integrative themes for focus areas. Integrating research design and data analysis across integrative themes.

22 Future directions Enhance academic collaboration and coordination, with focus on strengthening graduate education in Amazonian universities. Fund raise for small projects for data collection, seek support for funding for graduate students. Promote networking among students, faculty and local actors across institutions and sites. Develop bilingual website and dataportal for data storage and access across themes.

23 THANK YOU! Acknowledgements: Researchers, students and institutions CAPES Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel University of Florida Office of Research Brazilian Universities Photo: Elineide Marques Contact: