Brazilian Government Wants to Reduce Size of 60 Conservation Units Containing Roads and Railways

By Richard Mann

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Jair Bolsonaro administration intends to reduce over 60 Environmental Conservation Units in the country: those having federal roads, railways, ports, and airports within their limits, according to the government.

The reduction, according to the federal administration, is intended to remove “interference” with existing structures and provide “legal security” for the ventures — whether these are public or granted to private enterprises.

A letter sent by the Ministry of Infrastructure to the Chico Mendes Biodiversity Institute (ICMBio) stated that “there are 54 conservation units intercepted by highways and railroads” in addition to “37 highways and railroads bordering the units”. The document also reports that it pinpointed eight small airports in a conflicting position with seven protected areas, as well as eight overlapping public and private ports.

The Ministry of the Environment stated that, in association with ICMBio, it mapped out road works in Brazil, revealing “the overlapping of conservation units on pre-existing highways, railroads, ports or airports, i.e. undertakings inaugurated decades before the environmental legislation.”

According to the portfolio, it is proposed to perform “a legal adjustment only, which does not imply a reduction, in practice, of the existing range.” The ministry states that ICMBio will “examine the overlap of conservation units and assess whether these are compatible with infrastructure projects.”

According to newspaper Estado, in May, the Environment Ministry intends to carry out a general inspection of the 334 federal protected areas in the country.

According to Minister Ricardo Salles, part of these units “were created without any technical criteria” and need to be re-examined. The government wants to change the environmental classification of each region, turning restricted areas into sites where tourism and mining practices can be performed.