Brazil's mega hydro plan foreshadows China's growing impact on the Amazon

The government wants to open up the Tapajós basin - an area the size of France - for trade with China. But the indigenous Munduruku won't let it happen without a fightCrashing upstream through the Sao Luiz rapids, the churning river throws the speedboat around like a child's toy. There is first a moment of fear, then relief and finally wonder at crossing a natural boundary that has held back the destruction of this corner of the Amazon for almost five centuries.This is the gateway to a land that indigenous inhabitants call Mundurukania, after their tribe, the Munduruku, which has settled the middle and upper reaches of the Rio Tapajós since ancient times. The thickly vegetated shores, misty hills and untamed waters - breached at one point by a dolphin - mark it out as one of the few regions of the planet still to be explored and exploited by industrial commerce. Continue reading...