By Fatimah Idera
As Brazil prepares to host the COP30 climate summit in Belém this November, a four-lane highway is being constructed through tens of thousands of acres of the Amazon rainforest. The road is intended to ease traffic congestion for the more than 50,000 attendees expected at the conference.
The Brazilian government has defended the project as a “sustainable” development initiative, despite the irony of clearing rainforests for a climate summit. Alongside the newly built road, piles of logs from felled trees illustrate the scale of deforestation taking place to accommodate construction.
Claudio Verequete says the trees he harvested açaí from have been cut down
Critics and local residents, including Claudio Verequete, have voiced their concerns. “Everything was destroyed. Our harvest has already been cut down. We no longer have that income to support our family,” he lamented.
Verequete, who made a living harvesting açaí berries from trees that have now been cleared, said he has not received compensation from the government and fears further deforestation.
“Our fear is that one day someone will come here and say, ‘Here’s some money. We need this area to build a gas station or a warehouse,’ and then we’ll be forced to leave. We were born and raised here in this community. Where are we supposed to go?” he asked.
He also highlighted that his community will not have access to the new road due to walls built on either side, making it inaccessible to local residents.
“For those of us who live along the highway, there will be no benefits. The trucks will benefit, but if someone in our community gets sick and needs to reach the center of Belém, we won’t be able to use it.”
Scientists have also raised alarms about the highway’s impact on the rainforest ecosystem, warning that it will disrupt wildlife movement and reduce habitat areas for breeding and survival.
Professor Silvia Sardinha, a wildlife veterinarian and researcher at a university animal hospital near the new road, emphasized the immediate effects of deforestation.
“We are losing critical areas where we can release animals back into the wild. Land animals will no longer be able to cross to the other side, reducing their natural habitat and breeding grounds,” she explained.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has promoted COP30 as an opportunity to showcase efforts to protect the Amazon. However, Sardinha noted that while the summit will feature high-level discussions among business leaders and government officials, the voices of local Amazon communities are not being heard.
