Saturday, May 28, 2011

It's Dam wrong!

The things we do in the name of "progress"!


Have you read or heard about the Gilbel Gibe III dam project in Ethiopia? 


The 1,870 MW Gibe III Dam is one of five large hydro schemes currently under construction in Ethiopia, and more are being planned. Even with an aggressive national grid expansion underway, the coming rush of hydropower development will far exceed the nation’s electricity demands. More than 500 MW of Gibe III’s electricity are already earmarked for export to Kenya and other neighboring countries.


Photojournalist Daniel Sullivan has been documenting the lives of the tribes of the Omo Valley and how they will be affected by the Gibe III dam, Africa's most destructive dam that will condemn half a million of the regions isolated and vulnerable tribes to hunger and conflict. The tribes Sullivan has been documenting, live in a state of constant hunger, relying on the river for their drinking water, fishing, agriculture and livestock. For the people of the Omo, the water is a lifeline.


Many of the tribes do not know yet about the dam, which is scheduled for completion in 2011. The construction of the dam will cause, what many are saying, the greatest ecocide of our generation. 


The Omo basin is also home to the last riparian forest remaining in sub Sahara Africa. The Gibe III dam will cause the forest to dry out, taking with it the last of the big animals living there...baboons, hippos, elephants, hyenas, cheetahs, lions and countless birds. 


To learn more about the tribe and how you can help, go here. To sign the petition to stop the dam, go here. I just did. 


And incidentally, here is some incredible photography by Daniel Sullivan. Just a small sampling....



To see more, go visit his website. And let's put an end to this Dam business!

5 comments:

Sudha said...

have to come back to read this post once again...but thanks for sharing this.

GB said...

You have to wonder why they'd want to do this? The workings of the human mind and race seem like this huge mystery at times.

The tribes might be relocated, but the animals and their habitat will be lost forever. :(

anrosh said...

Most dams are eco-political business

Unknown said...

I wish there was more of impact analysis conducted, by the lobbyists. On the one hand, energy harvesting and technology progress is necessary...and so much more as these area's are the Growth business area's and technology here is so lacking, however at the cost of ecology imbalance and extinction!!! Anrosh is right...most energy and dam implementations are huge eco-political businesses...where was UN, the Human rights and Animal rights, etc etc etc...when all this was going on...??

Anonymous said...

gosh!! really!! why would they do this?? What are they thinking?? How sad is that!! So what do you think we could do to make a difference??

I'm off to check the site!