Belo Monte will be the world´s third-largest hydroelectric project and will displace up to 20,000 people while diverting the Xingu River and flooding as much as 230 square miles of rainforest. The controversial project is one of around 60 hydroelectric projects Brazil has planned in the Amazon to generate electricity for its rapidly expanding economy—and one that has generated an enormous amount of criticism.
Faces of the Lost: Photos from Brazil’s Controversial Belo Monte Dam
Mario Tama / Getty Images
A felled tree lies in the construction site of the Belo Monte dam complex in the Amazon basin on June 15, 2012 near Altamira, Brazil.
