Since its founding in 1949, modern
In addition to upholding dams as a symbol of modernity and progress,
Increasingly, however, a strong civil society voice is arguing that the social and environmental costs associated with dam construction must be taken into account. Yu Xiaogang, winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize and leader of the Kunming-based group Green Watershed, argues that hydropower must be considered against other energy options and developed only through careful planning and scientific surveys.
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It is widely recognized that dams, particularly large-scale projects, can flood important habitat, damage river ecosystems and surrounding flora and fauna, and destroy the livelihoods and cultural heritage of river peoples. According to the World Commission on Dams, these social and environmental costs often outweigh the benefits from hydropower, especially when compared to alternative energy sources.
In
Despite these serious concerns, hydropower is not likely to disappear anytime soon in
“We know that we need to make trade-offs....But we want to make the most informed trade-offs, where all of the stakeholders can be involved,“ says Jun.
It is this awareness of informed decision making that has led environmentalists in
Wang Yongchen,
“We are not objecting to all dams. But some dams don’t obey
Although Chinese law now requires careful environmental impact assessment (EIA) of all development projects, including public participation in the planning process, interpreting and implementing the law has proved challenging. Many rural residents are not aware of their participation rights, and those who are aware often lack information about how to exercise them. Moreover, those who do try to exercise them are sometimes shut down.
One villager in the Nu River region of Yunnan province, an area that has been surveyed extensively for dam development, told Wang Yongchen that he assumed the public participation law was meant “to protect the interests of ordinary people and allow you to participate in the decision.“ But when the developers came to his village, he explained, “they just started to make announcements, and before construction started some people were organized to go and have a look. But when they came back, they weren’t allowed to talk about what they had seen.“
PIN/ SOLARACCESS.COM
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