Belo Monte

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 30, 2015 2015 Equator Prize recognizes Munduruku efforts to defend the Tapajós River from new wave of Amazon mega-dams New York, United States—Last Monday, the Munduruku indigenous people’s resistance movement Ipereg Ayu was awarded the 2015 United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) Equator Prize. The announcement recognizes the Munduruku’s tireless and innovative struggle to preserve the Amazon’s Tapajós River and its vast forests from destruction. The Equator Prize aims to shine a spotlight on outstanding community efforts to reduce poverty,

Brazil’s controversial Belo Monte hydroelectric plant is facing another setback after the country’s environmental protection agency, Ibama, threatened to withhold an operating licence until the consortium which built the dam completes mitigation projects in the area to be affected.