A new 4-lane highway is being built within the protected amazon rainforest area of tese de quare kilometers to ease the construction traffic for the climate change summit scheduled to be COP 30 summit in Beltin, Brazil. The infrastructure development is intended to ease the congestion expected due to thr anticipated pouring in of more than 50,000 participants including many world leaders in November. Notwithstanding, the state government claims the initiative furthers “sustainable” goals, conservationists along with the native populace are in rage at the riot this will cause in the infrastructure of the current environment. Amazon serves a primary function in ensuring the absorption of carbon and biodiversity so these critics argue that this deforestation deeply undermines the goals for climate summit in the COP.
In beltin, logged timber poles stand piled on cleared for four-lane highway that that encountered once lush rainforest. This area along the 13 kilometer stretch of road actively under destruction has a great deal of heavy machinery working on the ground ripping apart the soil of the wetland that was once fertile and is being paved over. Alongside the road, many kilometers of forest has been affected with machines destroying foliage.
He used to depend on harvesting the acaÍ fruits until his life was obliterated with the construction of the site. As startup payments have not been given by the government, Verequete now has to deal with saving payments alone and worries that further development will lead to more pollution and business ventures destroying nature. “Everything was destroyed. Our harvest has already been cut down. We no longer have that revenue to take care of our family,” says Verequete, a local resident whose house is 200 meters away from the construction site. Superimposed by a fear that one day a stranger would arrive and bribe everyone with money to set up gas stations or warehouses that would need to be situated where he Varequete has known his entire life, he also is awash with skepticism as to the alternative posed. “Where do we go?” He continues with a soft voice.
Living adjacent to the highway is going to be a terrible experience as construction will deteriorate life quality while superimposing great advantages to transport trucks. “There will be benefits for the trucks that will pass through,” states Varequete. This will not only doom the residents behind the walls, but risk the surrounding ecosystem too, as building further strips away nature, isolating two blocks of leftover forest that could negatively impact wildlife movement. Prof. Wildlife veterinarian, and researcher, Silvia Sardinha cautions that the construction will interfere with their efforts to rehabilitate and later release injured animals back into nature.
“From the point of deforestation, there is a lack. There will be less space to rehabilitate and release these animals into the wild,” she claims.
Whereas Brazilian authorities are working patently around the summit as a unique chance to put the Amazon on display and appeal its preservation, Prof. Sardinha argues that the regional populations are ignored. The Pará state government has long been looking to develop the Avenida Liberdade highway which had been put on hold for the environmental reasons. As the summit draws closer, many such infrastructure projects that have been postponed, including the Avenida Liberdade highway, have been restarted. This highway is part of a larger project aimed at making the city more modern.
The infrastructure secretary of the state government Adler Silveira has considered the highway to be a “sustainable” project with wildlife crossings, bike paths, and solar lights.
In addition to the highway, the federal government will spend more than 81 million dollars to improve the airport’s jurisdiction and construct the new Park of the City, which will be provided with green areas and sociocultural accommodations.
Certain business proprietors view these changes as favorable for the city of Belém. One of these is Dalci Cardoso da Silva, who sells leather shoes at the Ver-o-peso market. He believes that the changes will provide greater sales and more customers. “The city as a whole is being improved. This means I can sell more and earn more,’’ he adds while reminiscing about when Belém was “beautiful, well-kept, well cared for.”
A more positive perspective is held by João Alexandre Trindade da Silva, an Amazonian herbal medicine merchant. While he is aware of the obstacles posed by construction, he remains optimistic about its prospect. “We hope these discussions do not remain paper talk and turn into real measures,” he explained, bullish on the prospect of breathing cleaner air and enjoying a healthier planet.
A new dynamic accompanies discussions on COP30 as world leaders continue actively preparing for the event while worrying if the countries hosting it will consider its climate effects harmful. The case poses crucial developments: how much development should take place, negating some aspects of caring for the environment in one of the world’s most important ecosystems?
