The Aysén region of Chilean Patagonia is threatened by a plan to build five dams on the Baker and the Pascua rivers – two of the wildest in the world. The Rapid Assessment Visual Expedition (Rave), an initiative of the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP), was set up to address the challenges of modern conservation, and it visited the area in February this year to assess what impact the dams would have on the surrounding area and its way of life.
The expedition team included the Pulitzer prize winner and National Geographic photographer Jack Dykinga, twice World Press winner and Prince's Rainforest Project award winner Daniel Beltra, award-winning filmmaker and photographer Jeff Foott and award-winning photographer Bridget Besaw
In total, five hydroelectric dams are planned, three for the Pascua river and two for the Baker. Some of these dams would be more than 1,500 miles from the central grid to which the electricity will be sent. Both rivers are fed by, and they flow in between, the world’s two largest ice caps outside Greenland and Antarctica
Photograph: MODIS/NASA/Guardian
The Guardian
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