Conservationists in Brazil have got some success in their struggle for saving a precious tract of rainforests. The Brazilian government has decided to launch an environmental impact study for a proposed hydroelectric power plant to be built on river Xingu in Para state. This decision was taken in the wake of criticism from the conservationists, who allege that the project, to be set up in the pristine stretch of rainforest, would pose a threat for the area's ecological balance. The area, they claim, is very important in ecological terms as it shelters animals such as elephants, chimpanzees, gorillas and forest buffaloes.