Translated French article on brokopondo reservoir in Suriname. In 1964, the Republic of Surinam, a former Dutch Guiana, whose soil is rich in bauxite, is investing in the production of aluminium. The closure of the Afobaka dam flooded a portion of the forest, more than 1,500 square kilometers of land, almost 50% of the land of the tribe of the Saramaca. A trauma for the 6,000 inhabitants of the area flooded, expelled, and then relocated to a hundred miles away, Brownsweg, in makeshift shelters. But the electricity is not the only resource produced by the artificial lake. Submerged tropical forest tree trunks are... sunken treasures a manna for the small Republic. More than ten million cubic metres of wood - the equivalent of 500,000 trucks - sleep under the water. Enough to satisfy the lust of the Netherlands and Germany, major buyers of rot-resistant wood, used for the construction of terraces and furniture. Dustin King and Manoel Martins Pereira, plunge 35 meters deep, at the risk of their lives in water, infested by piranhas, and cut trunks to the blind. Every day, a dozen behemoths than 20 tons, bursting of water, are hoisted to the surface by metal cables and towed to the sawmill. For many descendants of the tribe of the Miagacasan, it is the only source of work in the region. And Lake van Blommstein is still enough wood for a daily livelihood to residents for 20 years at least... http://www.arte.tv/fr/Comprendre-le-monde/art...44446.html