In preparation for an international climate summit this fall, Brazilian state officials are clearing tens of thousands of acres of the Amazon rainforest to complete a new four-lane highway, the BBC reported.
The COP30 summit will be held Nov. 10-21 in the Brazilian city of Belém, and is expected to draw about 50,000 attendees, including world leaders and business people to discuss climate change. COP stands for Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
However, the development sparked controversy among locals that contend such deforestation of the Amazon rainforest and construction undermines the purpose of the gathering.
It will be more difficult to release animals into the wild because of the development, Silvia Sardinha, a professor and wildlife veterinarian, told the BBC.
“From the moment of deforestation, there is a loss,” Sardinha said. “We are going to lose an area to release these animals back into the wild, the natural environment of these species.”
Sardinha treats injured wildlife before releasing the healed creatures back into the forest.
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“Land animals will no longer be able to cross to the other side too, reducing the areas where they can live and breed,” she said.
The Brazilian government and the state government of Pará are promoting the summit as historic for the environmental good it will do. The U.N. climate convention has 198 parties and is the “parent treaty” of the 2015 Paris Agreement. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the international climate agreement to reduce carbon emissions.
The 8-mile highway, called the Avenida Liberdade, was under consideration since 2012, but was “shelved because of environmental concerns,” the BBC reported.
But the COP summit is bringing about 30 major projects, said Adler Silveira, infrastructure secretary for Pará, so “we can have a legacy for the population and, more importantly, serve people for COP30 in the best possible way.”
Silveira said the Avenida Liberdade is a “sustainable highway” that will have wildlife crossings for animals, bike lanes, and solar lighting. But he added hotels are also being built in the area and the port is being redeveloped to accommodate cruise ships.
Meanwhile, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva asserted the event as “a COP in the Amazon, not a COP about the Amazon,” according to Newsweek.
Claudio Verequete, a resident who lives near the road still under construction, said the road has endangered his livelihood.
“Everything was destroyed,” said Verequete, who used to harvest açaí berries from trees where the road is now under construction. “Our harvest has already been cut down. We no longer have that income to support our family.”
He said he received no government compensation and because of a barrier, cannot access the road.
“For us who live on the side of the highway, there will be no benefits,” Verequete added. “There will be benefits for the trucks that will pass through. If someone gets sick, and needs to go to the centre of Belém, we won’t be able to use it.”
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