The Government of Brazil has ordered the construction of a highway that crosses tens of thousands of hectares of protected Amazon rainforest, to facilitate mobility for COP30 in Belém. Locals and conservationists have denounced the environmental impact that the project will cause.
It will be the construction of a four-lane highway, the project known as “sustainable highway,” has sparked strong controversies between locals and conservationists, who denounce the significant environmental impact it will cause.
Built by the Brazilian military dictatorship, the BR-319 highway crosses 900 kilometers of the Amazon rainforest from Manaus to Porto Velho. The central section was abandoned and has been impassable since the 1980s.
The government has defended the highway and stated that the objective of renewing this highway project is to facilitate traffic to the city, which will host over 50,000 people at COP30.
Paving this road would bring significant negative impacts to the local population and would represent an environmental catastrophe.
Deforestation for the construction of the highway[/caption>
Why it generates controversy about the construction of a highway
The Amazon plays a vital role in carbon absorption for the world and is home to immense biodiversity. While improving access for world leaders who will gather to discuss climate priorities, the construction of a highway has sparked strong criticism from those who denounce the impact of deforestation in the protected area, stating that it contradicts the purpose of COP30.
Criticism from local communities
It has begun to have repercussions for locals, who claim that their livelihood has been affected by the highway.
They mention that their crops have been destroyed and they no longer have the income to support their families.
Their fear is that one day they will be displaced by some commercial development and will have to leave a place where they were born and raised.
The main concerns are related to the disconnection of their community as they would be isolated, with walls on both sides, they will not be connected.
Disruption in the natural movement of fauna
Where there was jungle, now there are piled logs. Excavators and heavy machinery alter the forest soil, destroying wetlands and fragmenting the ecosystem.
Scientists are concerned that the construction of a highway will leave two disconnected areas of protected forest, fragmenting the ecosystem and impeding the movement of fauna.
Animals will no longer be able to cross to the other side, reducing the areas where they can live and reproduce.
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