This book gathers a selection of articles published in the monthly electronic bulletin of the World Rainforest Movement (WRM), addressing the issue of the impacts of large dams on forests and local communities, as well as the struggles developed at the local and global levels against them.
The level of detail and analysis in the articles varies greatly, as a consequence of the nature of the bulletin, which is intended to serve as a tool, both for individuals and organizations acting on a local level and for those working on an international scale. However we have included most of the articles, as we consider that in some way they can all serve to generate resistance and solidarity movements regarding a subject such as this, of vital importance for the survival of local communities that live in the areas where large dams are planned or already exist.
Most of the articles are the result of a collaborative effort between the WRM bulletin’s editorial team and people and organizations working at the local and global level against large dams. The numerous sources of information on which the articles were based are detailed – by article – at the end of this book. The articles have been organized in different sections and within each section by date, in chronological order of publication, except for the section Dams: An Overview, where the articles appear by order of relevance.
Responsibility for this publication is shared between the WRM editorial team and the numerous individuals and organisations who contributed articles or relevant information for the preparation of articles. Errors that may have been made are the exclusive responsibility of WRM.
But what matters most is that beyond the authorship of the different articles, the true protagonists of this work are the numerous local communities in the tropics and subtropics who protect their forests and livelihoods and firmly resist the massive destruction caused by large dams. The articles attempt to reflect the struggles of these protagonists, with the central aim of supporting them. To all of them, we pay our most sincere homage.