Tropical forests are important regulators of the flux and storage of carbon, water, and energy in the Biosphere, and they are the habitat of more than three-fourths of the world’s plant and animal species. These ecosystems are also undergoing rapid conversion through pasture formation, shifting cultivation and timber highgrading as the people of tropical nations turn to forestlands for sustenance and wealth.
Hydropower Construction and Deforestation: Linking Forest Cover to Changes in Water Balance
Hydropower Construction and Deforestation: Linking Forest Cover to Changes in Water Balance
In early August 2016 the environmental license to build the largest of these dams, the São Luiz do Tapajos, was denied. In addition to future expansion of hydropower throughout the Amazon, 43 dams are still planned for the Tapajos River Basin.