The Brazilian Environmental Justice Network has launched an international campaign to demand President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva and other Brazilian authorities put an end to the controversial Belo Monte hydro-electric dam in Para state.

Since it was first proposed in the 1980s, the Belo Monte hydro project has been at the forefront of numerous protests and gatherings. For instance, in 2008, the Kayapo and other Rainforest Peoples came together for the historic Xingu Forever Alive Encounter.

A similar event occurred in 1989 which ultimately led to the project’s abandonment. Unfortunately, it was soon placed onto the agenda once again without any significant alterations.

Once completed, the Belo Monte dam would devastate a massive portion of the Amazon rainforest, divert the flow of the Xingu River and destroy the livelihoods of more than 12,000 Indigenous people.

Last week, the Brazilian Environment Ministry (IBAMA) granted an environmental license for the dam.

Following the move, the Kayapo issued a letter to President Lula renewing their stance against the project; stating, in part: “We don’t want this dam to destroy the ecosystems and the biodiversity that we have taken care of for millenia and which we can still preserve.”

Several human rights and environmental groups have similarly renewed their own opposition to the project.

According to Survival International, Brazil’s Public Prosecutor’s Office has also stepped in, calling for the license to be canceled because the environmental impact studies were incomplete and because the Indigenous population and others who would be affected by the dam were not consulted.

Unless the project can be halted once again, construction is expected to begin in late 2010.