Patagonia

The Patagonia Campaign supports our partners' efforts to fight dams being proposed on the Baker and Pascua rivers in southern Chile. International Rivers is a member of the Consejo de Defensa de la Patagonia (CDP, or Patagonia Defense Council) a broad coalition of citizens, community groups, and national and international NGOs working to protect Patagonia from destructive development.

HidroAysén is a proposal to build 3 dams on the Pascua River and 2 dams on the Baker River in the Aysén region of southern Chile. The dams would flood globally rare forest ecosystems and some of the most productive agricultural land in the area. (See map).

Electricity from these dams would be sent thousands of kilometers north to serve Chile’s biggest cities and its mammoth copper industry. More than 2,000 kilometers of transmission lines would require one of the world's longest clearcuts – much of it through untouched temperate rainforests found nowhere else on the planet – and would traverse a seismically active region strewn with volancoes.

The environmental review process began in 2008. Due to serious flaws and omissions in the project plans, three addenda were required to address these shortcomings. The HidroAysén Environmental Impact Assesment was approved by an 11-1 vote on May 9, 2011, despite outstanding flaws and ommissions of critical data. The tireless efforts of river defenders in Chile and around the world helped delay project approval and shift popular opinion away from HidroAysén. Unfortunately, project proponents are still pushing hard for a political victory that would allow them to advance with the estimated US$10 billion mega-project.

The Consejo de Defensa de la Patagonia is working tirelessly to expose the problems with HidroAysén, as well as to propose alternatives that would offer sustainable development for Chile.

Chile is a country with many energy options. Studies by The University of Chile and other experts have found that HidroAysén is not necessary to meet Chile's future energy needs. Investment in more efficient use of electricity, together with renewable sources such as solar, geothermal and wind, would ensure a sustainable energy future for Chile. International Rivers and our partners are calling for the Chilean government and the private sector to support cleaner alternatives and to keep Chile's rivers wild.

LATEST ADDITIONS:

Avances en el Campo de las Emisiones de Embalses

Piñera and the World Bank Support HidroAysén

HidroAysén's Transmission Line Revealed

Chile Approves HidroAysen Dam Project In Wild Patagonia Despite Major Opposition

Patagonia Rising at the Pacific Rim Film Festival – Oct 19, 2011

CONTACT US:

Berklee Lowrey-Evans
berklee [at] internationalrivers [dot] org
+1 510 848 1155