Endangered Monuments


The natural waterfall GOUINA on the Senegal river, Mali, West Africa
could vanish from the planet Earth, soon !!! 
(OMVS Hydro-Dam Gouina 2013/14, commisioning 2017)



In the name of the Wild Nature from Gouina Mali I call for help. I please Everybody who loves the Earth for take an action and help to stop upcoming ecological disaster GouinaHydroPowerProject. I represent silent being living in peace and harmony on the bank of Senegal river for thousands years mammals, birds, fishes and trees. I´m begging for protection of majestic cataracts in Gouina created by Nature for millions years which could gone forever from The Planet Earth. Please help us!



 


 The natural waterfall Gouina it is located on the Senegal River in Mali, 70 km upstream of Kayes and about 50 km downstream of Bafoulabé depend Foukara Village(7 km to Bafoulabé) and are part of the common Diamou (at 22 km to Kayes).They measure fifteen meters high and 130 meters wide.

       The natural fall in Gouina and Felou are on the Boucle du Baoulé National Park in Mali  Kayes Region and Koulikoro Region, set up in 1982. It has an area of 25,330 km².
       The park is known for its prehistoric rock art and tombs.
This site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List 
on 8th September, 1999,  in the Cultural category.


Biodiversity :The site is part of the classified forest Bagouko where you can meet a wide range of vegetation with the baobab, acacia, n'galaman the kérékéto, shea, or palmyra cibo, palm etc. It lists in the number of forest species, some protected or endangered species such as leopards and hippos and antelope, antelopes reeds or water buck, gazelles, wild dogs, the eland, the vultures .There are also red or patas monkeys, vervet monkeys, warthogs, porcupines, hares, squirrels, frogs. Hundreds birds: parrots, doves, herons, wild pigeons, wild ducks, partridges . The river is home to many fish , amphibians and reptiles like caymans, lizards and boas.



Manantali Gouina Hydro-Power 
Project (GHPP)


1.The Gouina Hydropower Project (GHPP) is a trans-boundary initiative by the Senegal River Basin Organisation (OMVS), grouping Mali, Mauritania, Senegal and Guinea, aiming at providing renewable energy to these four member states. The project, located on a natural fall on the Senegal River, near Kayes, West of Mali, will use the water already processed and regularized by the Manantali dam at an estimated cost of EUR 324m.
2. At the beginning of August 2012 Malian radio informed that the Bank of Africa opened an account for new investments GHPP and confirmed participation in this project.

3. Gouina project (2012-2017) : Interconnection Kayes (Mali)–Tambacounda (Senegal) for
evacuating the power of Gouina power plant (Mali) Hydroelectric plant Gouina– 140 MW– 565 GWh -329 M$, 225kV line Kayes (Mali)–Tambacounda (Senegal)– 280 km– 65 M$ Commissioning: 2017

4.The contract for Gouina hydropower project was signed during the ceremony in  Felou (Manantali FHPP) October 30th  2009 by Mr. Song Dongsheng, vice general manager of Sinohydro Co,Ltd (builder) and  High Commissioner Mohamed Salem Ould Merzoug (OMVS)

5.The principal financial backers are the EU,the World Bank, the BADEA, the Bank of Africa and the AFD. The World Bank Project ID P09491 (OMVS/SOGEM Felou-Gouina HP)

6. Replaced inhabitants will get compensation for their “loss”. On the meeting in Kayes 12.12.12 representatives of affected people could hear about socio-environmental impact of hydro-dam and  
future benefit such as compensation and economical development of the region.
7. Already existed the Manantali dam have negative impacts on the regional ecology, on agricultural production, fisheries, and public health. Downstream farmers affected by the Manantali dam have come together to create a union called "Mouvement des Acteurs de la Valle" (MAV).

8. A  few decades of hydro-dam give less benefit and more problems than it was supposed. Researchers reported: extinction of fishes,  aquatic species, the disappearance of birds in floodplains, huge losses of forest, wetland and farmland, erosion of coastal deltas. The dams are source of global greenhouse gas pollution especial in the hot tropical countries. Less freshwater flowing into the oceans. The big artificial lakes are responsible for malaria, bilharzia, schistosomiasis etc. The dams influenced social-economical-political life, 10% of humanity  fall into category of dam-affected people

9.The most endangers spices in Gouina are Hippopotamus amphibius, the new high level of water will damage feeding. Electric catfish from Malapteruridae family will gone. The electromagnetic field used by birds (e.g Falco peregrinus, Cotumix adansonii, Columba livia) for navigation will be interrupted. Extinction of fishes will cause extinction of Kingfishers birds e.g Alcedo cristal, Halcon senegalensis, Halcyon malimbica,  Megaceryle maximus.

10. This project will affect 2445 people . Six villages, 618 habitants will be replaced , crops area affected 592ha and1800ha pastures.10119 trees including protected species such as Rafia sudanica (Red List info: it may be Near Threatened or Least Concern. Population trend: decreasing) will gone.

11. Mali has one of the highest Solar-Energy potential around the world. The 155-megawatt new Nzema Solar-plant in Ghana will cost 305 million Euro to build and will be fully operational in 2015. HPPGouina 140-megawatt will cost 324 million  Euro (maybe more), commissioning in 2017. Both projects start in 2014.

Hydro-dam Gouina,Mali, West Africa, Report,Autor Ewa Olkuska


Gouina Hydro-POWER Project info, OMVS,

presented in Kayes 12.12.2012



Présentation des résultats de l’Etude d’Impact Environnemental et Social complémentaire
 https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B6lfjgHOEcaBT3NKVU9ycnJQbzQ



Présentation du Plan d’Action de Réinstallation
Principaux impacts, (maps)
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B6lfjgHOEcaBX0tKcGdDeTVoU3c 



ETUDE D’IMPACT ENVIRONNEMENTAL ET SOCIAL COMPLEMENTAIRE RELATIVE AU PROJET HYDROELECTRIQUE DE GOUINA Résumé non-technique 
Novembre 2012
PLAN D’ACTION DE REINSTALLATION RELATIF AU PROJET HYDROELECTRIQUE DE GOUINA Résumé non-technique
Novembre 2012
PLAN DE GESTION ENVIRONNEMENTALE ET SOCIALE RELATIF AU PROJET
HYDROELECTRIQUE DE GOUINA Résumé non-technique 
Novembre 2012
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B6lfjgHOEcaBUlRXcG9UZVkzeTg 




WHY WE SHOULD ABANDON HYDRO PROJECTS
 AND INVEST IN SOLAR ENERGY

Ewa Olkuska 12 DECEMBER 2012
Economy

1.The World Commission on Dams found that on average, large dams have been at best
only marginally economically viable. The average cost overrun of dams is 56%.

2.Of the world’s 40 richest countries, only one is more than 90% hydro-dependent;
of the world’s 40 poorest, 15 are more than 90% hydro-dependent. Numerous hydro-
dependent countries have suffered drought-induced blackouts and energy rationing in
recent years. Energy security of country enquirers of diversify power generation away
from large hydro-power, rather than deepening their dependency.

3.However, the challenge of predicting how a hydroelectric dam will perform in the
years to come—and the ability of a developing government to keep it up and running—
is now making this energy resource a riskier, and perhaps in some cases unpalatable,
investment.

4.Scientists at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology have attempted
to tackle the prediction challenge. Using 12 climate models, 8 of which had to agree in
order to contribute to the results, they examined how the world’s rivers will likely change
over the next 40 years and what that will mean for hydro-power production ”Projected
Changes in Hydro-power Generation (2050)” They found that while midlatitude areas will
generally experience reductions in river flow and thus hydro-power output.

5.The 155-megawatt new Nzema Solar-plant in Ghana will cost 305 million Euro to build
and will be fully operational in 2015. HPPGouina 140-megawatt will cost 324 million
Euro (maybe more), commissioning in 2017. Both projects start in 2014.
Solar plants create more work places for locals than hydro-plants.

Climate change

1.Greenhouse gases, primarily methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2), are emitted
from all of the dozens of reservoirs where measurements have been made. Gases
are emitted from the surface of the reservoir, at turbines and spillways, and for tens
of kilometers downstream. Emissions are highest in hot climates. Hydro plants in the
tropics with large reservoirs relative to their generating capacity can have a much
greater impact on global warming than fossil fuel plants generating equivalent amounts
of electricity.

2.A 2009 study by the National Center for Atmospheric Research, in Boulder, Colo.,
found ”significant changes” in the stream flow of a third of the world’s large rivers from
1948 to 2004, with 6 percent less freshwater flowing into the Pacific and 3 percent less
making it to the Indian Ocean.

3.Evaporation is a largely under-estimated impact of large dams in Africa. Indeed,
the World Commission on Dams stated that 5% of the world’s freshwater evaporates
annually from reservoirs, but that in Africa with our hot climate, many of the dams
evaporate over 10% of its water every year which represents a significant amount of
water. In a warming world, with temperatures increasing by predicted amounts of 1
to 6 degrees C in the next 100 years, this evaporation rate will increase dramatically,
alongside increased evapo-transpiration rates.

5.Climate change is bringing many uncertainties, especially to the world of water. No
continent will be harder hit by climate change than Africa. The Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change has stated that African river basins will be especially affected by
climate change, and are expected to face worse droughts and more extreme floods as a
result Human´s life


Environmental change

1.The dam wall itself blocks fish migrations, which in some cases and with some
species completely separate spawning habitats from rearing habitats. The dam also
traps sediments, which are critical for maintaining physical processes and habitats
downstream of the dam (include the maintenance of productive deltas, barrier islands,
fertile floodplains and coastal wetlands).

2.Another significant and obvious impact is the transformation upstream of the dam from
a free-flowing river ecosystem to an artificial slack-water reservoir habitat. Changes in
temperature, chemical composition, dissolved oxygen levels and the physical properties
of a reservoir are often not suitable to the aquatic plants and animals that evolved with
a given river system. Indeed, reservoirs often host non-native and invasive species (e.g.
snails, algae, predatory fish) that further undermine the river's natural communities of
plants and animals.

3.According to the Hydro-power Reform Coalition (HRC), a consortium of 150 groups
concerned about the impact of dams, degraded water-quality is one of the chief
concerns. Organic materials from within and outside the river that would normally wash
downstream get built up behind dams and start to consume a large amount of oxygen
as they decompose. In some cases this triggers algae blooms which, in turn, create
oxygen-starved “dead zones” incapable of supporting river life of any kind.
4.Human environmental modifications normally exert a great impact on unstable areas,
most of the times in form of epidemics with high morbidity and mortality rates. Anopheles
gambiae s.s, An. arabiensis and An. funestus are considered the three main malaria
vectors in sub-Saharan Africa. The members of the gambiae complex have been
recorded extensively both in man-made lakes and flooded rice-fields. Although much
attention has been given to large dams (defined as having more than 30 meters high or
more than three million m3 of water storage) it is highly probable that small
dams may pose a greater impact on malaria transmission.






No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)