Brazil Amazon dam project suspended over concerns for indigenous people

Licensing process for Sio Luiz do Tapajos dam stalled after Funai report demarcated Sawri(C) Muybu land around river, where Munduruku people live

Plans to build a huge hydroelectric dam in the Amazon have been put on hold after Brazil's environmental agency, Ibama, suspended the licensing process over concerns about its impact on the indigenous community in the region.

As one of the central elements of the government's project to expand hydroelectric power generation across the Amazon, the 8,000-megawatt Sio Luiz do Tapajos dam is slated to be Brazil's second largest, after the controversial Belo Monte power plant, which finally began operating this week.