Brazil’s Supreme Court upheld a law removing 862 hectares (2,130 acres) from Jamanxim National Park, clearing a legal obstacle for the proposed Ferrogrão grain railway.The lower house in Congress also approved a measure reducing another Jamanxim conservation unit; although, the bill still must be voted on in the Senate.The project threatens Indigenous territories and key habitats for jaguars, giant otters and primates in an Amazonian region already facing extensive land grabbing and deforestation.Experts warn the ruling could make it easier to reduce protected areas elsewhere in Brazil for future infrastructure and development projects.
A ruling by Brazil’s Supreme Court has given new momentum to one of the most controversial infrastructure projects in the Brazilian Amazon: The Ferrogrão railway. The plan is to link Sinop, in the grain-producing state of Mato Grosso, to the port of Miritituba in Pará, a key commodity export hub on the Tapajós River. Conceived by the agribusiness sector to reduce grain transportation costs, Ferrogrão is a priority project for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration, despite warnings about its potential impacts on Indigenous territories and protected forests in an Amazon region already under significant socio-environmental pressure.
