Amazon rulers launch a plan to develop the region that ignores projects with an environmental impact

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The plan, developed in partnership with the Amazon Institute for Environmental Research (Ipam), did not mention the three main bets for states to boost their economies, which have a strong environmental impact. they:

• Paving of the BR-319 road connecting Manaus to Puerto Velho;
• Construction of Ferrogrão, a railway project aimed at connecting Sinope (MT) to Meritituba (PA), expanding the flow of grain via the Tapajós River;
• Oil exploration in the Equatorial Margin, which plans to expand the port structure of Amapa.

In keeping with Conservative rhetoric, the new plan acknowledges environmental challenges, and positions regional integration as one of the key development bottlenecks, including the bioeconomy and production of forest products, such as chestnuts and açaí.

“The region continues to face a decline in physical and economic integration among its countries,” the authors write. “Roads and ports are insufficient for efficient production flow, and river transport lacks investment and coordinated regional planning.”

But there is no clear mention of these projects. For example, the BR-319 crosses the Puros-Madeira region, one of the areas with the greatest biodiversity in the forest. It is feared that paving will generate a dynamic of unregulated occupation there, with illegal logging, land grabbing and predatory advances in agriculture.

The fear is that what happened in the past around Transamazônica and BR-163 will be repeated there.

In Virograo, the fear is that biodiversity will be fragmented and indigenous lands will be disturbed. The grain sector is more capitalist than the livestock sector, and its expansion into Mato Grosso could replicate a phenomenon previously seen in the Sinop region, where soybeans “drive” livestock into the forest.

According to Environment Minister Marina Silva, the project is in court and there is currently no license application within Ibama Railway.

In the tropical margin, Petrobras has already obtained a license from Ibama to explore. If the exploration plans come to fruition, the possibility of a leak at a depth of approximately 2,000 meters is not the only fear.

The impact of the intense circulation of large ships in the atoll and the disturbance of biodiversity in the impact zone of the Foz do Amazonas estuary remain risks that have been little studied.

According to the governor of Amapa, Clecio Luis, there is no contradiction in the 2050 plan that talks about the expansion of wind and solar energy in the Amazon region, while it is possible that the coast of Amapa will host a new frontier for oil exploration (fuel that will be burned mainly in other states or countries).

— Amapa is already a carbon-negative state, absorbing more carbon dioxide than it emits. It is also the most conservative state in Brazil, with 97% of its forests intact. — But the same state that sets this example for Brazil and the world also suffers from a lot of poverty. This is the equation that must be solved.

When asked about the “paradox of plenty” (the experience of some municipalities that received financial inflows from oil and were unable to increase their Human Development Index), Clessio said he had counterexamples in mind.

— Marika, in Rio de Janeiro, is a good example. Outside of Brazil, he says, Norway is a good example. —Oil is the economic activity that has boosted the Norwegian economy. But, in addition to the sovereign wealth fund, they take part of the resources and invest them in activities that do not depend on oil.

The Governor of Amazonas State, Wilson Lima (Uniao Brasil), also stated that the necessary measures will be taken to pave BR-319 so that the history of devastation that has witnessed the opening of other highways in the Amazon region will not be repeated.

With opinion polls in Manaus showing the action has significant public support, he says the arguments against the road are aimed at “bringing residents to their knees” and remaining isolated.

— We understand the impact of a project like this on the environment, but we are ready to comply with all environmental conditions and all necessary requirements — says the governor. — If we are going to turn BR-319 into a greenway or a park road, if we are going to put a control gate at the entrance and exit of the road, if we are going to put chips in cars to control the scale, we have no problem with that.

Helder Barbalo, from Pará, has no initiative on the scale of BR-319, but is under pressure from environmentalists for works such as Avenida Liberdade, a road cutting 13 kilometers from the conservation unit to connect Alça Viária de Belém to Avenida Perimetral.

He states that he also sees transportation as one of the bottlenecks in Amazon development, and that governments working as a bloc can help find financing to move forward.

– It is not easy to connect a region with nine states in the federation with the exceptional extensions that we have and the specific facts that we have – he said. – From this consortium, and from a regional perspective, we are building the participation of all countries to increase the regional ambition of public policies and the common mission of caring for the Amazon region.

The bloc in which the Amazon countries came together for the new project is the Interstate Union for the Sustainable Development of the Legal Area of ​​the Amazon. The group applies a somewhat separate approach to the type of rhetoric directed at each funding source conservatives seek for projects.

While controversial (but with popular appeal) actions find support in ministries under the Lula administration, the “Amazon Regional Strategy 2050” signals an intention to seek resources on other fronts, especially multilateral banks, such as the Islamic Development Bank, the World Bank, and the New Development Bank, from the BRICS group.

Amazonian Lima says he intends to apply to the state level for a portion of the resources that should reach the federal government through the recently created Tropical Forest Fund for the Semper (TFFF).

– The area of ​​the state of Amazonas is one and a half million square kilometers, of which between 95% and 97% are preserved. He says it is the largest expanse of continuous forest in the world and the largest carbon store on the planet. -We need to pay for this.