Environmentalists are celebrating now that the government of Chile has rejected a mammoth hydro-electric development in pristine, barely developed area of Patagonia in the southernmost part of the country.  HidroAysen would have been the biggest energy project in the country’s history, building five dams on two wild rivers.

“These giant dams would have put at risk the wilderness, traditional culture, and local tourism economy of this remarkable region,” said Amanda Maxwell, Latin America project director at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Patricio Rodrigo, executive secretary of the Patagonia Defense Council, called the decision “the greatest triumph of the environmental movement in Chile,” adding that it “marks a turning point, where an empowered public demands to be heard and to participate in the decisions that affect their environment and their lives.”

Chile is strapped for energy, especially in the central part of the country that HidroAysen would have served.  But most Chileans opposed the plan.  It would have forced 5,700 hectares of forest be clear-cut, destroyed waterfalls and whitewater rapids, and ruined the habitat for the endangered Southern Huemul deer.  Fewer than 1,000 of the animals exist, not counting the ones depicted on Chile’s Coat of Arms.

But HidroAysen executives say Chile is missing out on a lot: Cheaper energy, jobs, scholarships, and millions in infrastructure, including seaports and airports.

“Without HidroAysen, the country is starting to turn its back on hydroelectricity – the only real remedy to the continuing dependence on fossil fuels,” said HidroAysen CEO Daniel Fernandez.