THEME
Amazon waterway project risks biodiversity and local livelihoods
Home to great riverine biodiversity and crucial to local fishing communities, the Pedral do Lourenço is also getting in the way of major grain barges trying to sail up the Tocantins River. Photo: Antônio Cavalcante/EBC
For those who call Brazil’s Amazon home, the region's vast river systems are integral to many parts of life. While these routes facilitate regional and global trade, acting as crucial arteries for grain ships transporting commodities, the rivers also sustain local indigenous and riverine communities, serving as a key source of water, food, income and culture.
But this delicate balance is at risk of being fundamentally altered for some of the Amazon’s most important rivers, amid government plans to hand control of their transport infrastructure over to private companies…
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