In November next year, the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP30, will take place in Belém, in the Brazilian Amazonian state of Pará. State Governor Hedler Barbalho has vowed a sustainable transformation of the city to deliver an “extraordinary experience” for attendees, with a strong focus on the forest. However, the construction of a controversial highway that will slice through a protected conservation area is one of several projects set to undermine these promises, with environmentalists warning the road could devastate the reserve’s ecosystem. The new 13.3-kilometer (8.3-mile), four-lane Avenida Liberdade highway will cut through the 7,458-hectare (18,427-acre) Belém Environmental Protection Area (APAB), providing an alternative to the overburdened BR-316 highway and Almirante Barroso Avenue, which currently handle 100,000 vehicles daily. Construction was inaugurated on June 15 and the highway promises to transform traffic flow and enhance the quality of life for up to 2.2 million people in the Belém metropolitan region, according to state officials. But scientists warn the new highway will cut off APAB from the adjoining Utinga State Park, effectively fragmenting the interconnected ecosystem and disrupting wildlife movements between the two protected areas that are essential for biodiversity. This fragmentation could accelerate local extinctions and threaten the long-term survival of native wildlife within the two conservation units, both of which are critical habitats for thousands of species, including 800 types of plants and fungi, and serve as essential water sources for the city. “We have very few remnants of native vegetation in this municipality,”…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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