Proposals for a massive hydroelectric power plant in Brazil are causing arguments in the region because of the damaging effect it would have on diverse fish stocks.

The area targeted for the plant, Rondonia, is one that has already been deforested. According to the New York Times, officials are keen to keep economic growth up with the likes of China.

“How that dispute is resolved, advocates on both sides say, could determine nothing less than Brazil’s vision of its future at a moment when it is simultaneously facing energy and environmental pressures and casting envious glances at faster-growing developing countries, like India and China.

Unhappy with Brazil’s anemic rate of growth, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has made the economy the top priority of his second term, which began in January. Large public works projects, including the dams here on the Madeira River, are envisioned as one of the best ways to stimulate growth.”

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