The Amazon rainforest is being felled so that a new highway can be built ahead of the COP30 climate summit in Brazil.
In November, the city of Belém will host more than 50,000 people – including leaders from some of the world’s most powerful nations – for the conference.
In order to ease traffic to the city, a new four-lane highway is being built, cutting through tens of thousands of acres of protected Amazon rainforest, the BBC reports.
Whilst the state government has assured that the highway is “sustainable,” the deforestation that has taken place for it to be built has sparked outrage from locals and conservationists.
Speaking to the BBC, one local, Claudio Verequete, said he used to be make money from harvesting açaí berries from trees that once grew in the area. However he said “everything was destroyed” for the new road to be built.
Verequete, who lives only 200m from where the road will be, said: “Our harvest has already been cut down. We no longer have that income to support our family.”
Wildlife vet Professor Silvia Sardinha said the deforestation would affect her work in releasing animals back into the wild because their natural environment will be lost.
She added that those who live in the Amazon are “not being heard” with their concerns.
However, the state government have argued the highway is “sustainable” and an “important mobility intervention”.
Adler Silveira, the state government’s infrastructure secretary, told the BBC the road would have wildlife crossings for animals to pass over, bike lanes and solar lighting.
It is also hoped the road will help prepare and modernise the city of Belém, bringing new business opportunities to the area.
Related: Richard Tice slammed for spreading climate change ‘misinformation’