This controversial statement about the new 8 mile road segregating the Amazon Rainforest has been circulating the media and can be validated by reliable sources, for on March 11, 2025 BBC published an article, along with photos and drone footage, titled “Amazon Forest felled to build road for climate summit,” and a couple days later World Animal Protection published an article concerning the impact of deforestation on the Amazon’s delicate ecosystem if the right measures are not taken in the project.
BBC’s article highlights the visions of sustainability held by the Brazilian government for this project, including the Brazilian president and environment minister, while also addressing the voices of the local people and angered conservationists. This project in itself is a contradictory thing and it’s plain to see why- a vital cornerstone of the Earth is being put through pain for the sake of trying to save the Earth from pain. However, BBC channels Brazilian officials’ intentions for the project to have far more benefits than not, for it will help shape COP30 into a monumental event and great union of world leaders that will invoke real climate action where it has been absent for decades.
On the other side of the story, BBC illustrates the losses suffered by locals through the eyes of Claudio Verequete, a man born and raised in a small community of the Amazon who once made a living from harvesting acai berries. His trees were destroyed in the construction of the government's new project. Verequete expresses his heartache for his family and other locals, for he fears this act will prompt the continuous exodus of locals, leaving them displaced with nowhere to call home.
BBC along with World Animal Protection address the disturbance that animals too will undergo due to the highway that segregates a stretch of the Amazon nearly down the middle. The shocking photographs have been published by news outlets like BBC, Associated Press, and the Sierra Club, amongst various others as you will find with a quick internet search. Some experts say the extensive divide will disrupt the balance of the Amazonian ecosystem, and World Animal Protection writes of the potential hardships like the restriction of movement and lack of genetic diversity the animal society will experience. Furthermore, Natalia Figuierdo, World Animal Protection’s External Affairs Manager, discloses, “ ‘It is necessary to ensure that highways are adapted and prepared to include biodiversity protection.’ ” World Animal Protection reports that in Brazil approximately 475 million wild animals are killed in road collisions per year- a statistic that should shake humanity to its’ core.
With the retaliation arising around this project it can be easy to see it just for its flaws. I do not deny the negative impacts that this project may have, but I think we have to remind ourselves of its origin. Avenida Liberdade is the name the highway has acquired, translating to “Avenue of Liberty”. At this point in our world’s history it is critical that COP30 succeeds, and the Brazilian government has stated that the highway will accompany the needs of the animals of the Amazon. Brazilian officials have shown their extreme faith that this amongst other projects will show the world that this meeting will be the beginning of a long awaited union to take action against climate change- the beginning of the road to freedom.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9vy191rgn1o
https://www.worldanimalprotection.org/latest/news/amazon-forest-cut-down-for-cop30/