Advance Brazil or Undermine Brazil?
In an article in the Jan. 19 issue of Science, a U.S.-Brazilian team of biologists reported that as much as 42 percent of the Amazon River basin of Brazil will be seriously damaged or lost altogether in the next two decades if the country’s infrastructure development projects go forward as planned. The projects they refer to are part of the “Avanca Brasil” (Advance Brazil) program, which is intended to boost the industrial agriculture, timber and mining sectors of the economy by investing $40 billion in infrastructure projects from 2000 to 2007. William Laurance, a scientist with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, led a research team to systematically assess the effects of development trends and projects on the region. They developed comprehensive computer models that integrate current data on deforestation, logging, fires, mining, roads, parks and reserves with information about a host of existing and planned infrastructure projects, including the construction of railroads, highways and hydroelectric dams; the installation of power lines and gas lines; and the channelization of rivers. The authors suggest that “Rather than punching many new roads and highways into the remote frontier” that they invest in existing roads, public services and financial incentives that favor sustainable forest […]
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