Can Hydro-reservoirs in Tropical Moist Forests be Environmentally Sustainable?

Abstract

Today's polarization of society ‘for’ or ‘against’ big hydro-projects relates to environmental costs, which are borne particularly by vulnerable ethnic minorities and the poor; such costs include species extinctions and tropical deforestation. This counter-productive polarization can be reconciled by transparency and mutuality of planning, by pluralism involving the local populace and especially all affected people, and by engendering national consensus on the best project that is available and practicable.