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Noticias
Brazil & China megarailway raises deforestation warnings in the Amazon
16/06/2025
Autor: André Schröder
Fonte: Mongabay
Brazil & China megarailway raises deforestation warnings in the Amazon
André Schröder
16 Jun 2025 Amazon
Brazilian and Chinese authorities - including Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Xi Jinping - recently discussed a proposed railway that would connect Brazil's Atlantic coast to Peru's new Pacific-facing Chancay Port, cutting through the Amazon.
From Lucas do Rio Verde, a major agricultural hub in the state of Mato Grosso, the railway would be built from scratch, advancing into the Amazon's Arc of Deforestation.
Planners intend to build the Amazonian section of the railway alongside existing highways, a strategy aimed at minimizing environmental impacts and streamlining the licensing process.
However, environmental activists warn that the Bioceanic Corridor, together with newly planned roads, waterways and ports, could accelerate deforestation and degradation in the rainforest.
Brazil is a country shaped by highways. The transportation model adopted by President Juscelino Kubitschek in the 1950s has been expanded by successive administrations across the political spectrum since then, involving substantial investments in road construction, maintenance and incentives for the automotive industry. This long-standing preference for cars, buses and trucks contributed to the decline and eventual scrapping of Brazil's railway system.
Experts say this philosophy helped increase logistics costs in Brazil, a country with continental proportions and long distances. Several officials have pledged to rebuild the railway system and lower shipping costs, but these promises faded as railroads proved expensive and often not lucrative for private investors.
This explains why President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's administration is so enthusiastic about the plan to build a 3,000-kilometer (1,864-mile) railway using Chinese technology and funding, connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific.
This new megaproject is a central piece of Brazil's infrastructure strategy to streamline the export of agricultural and mineral commodities to China via Pacific ports, cutting shipping times by up to 10 days compared with the current route across the Atlantic. Brazilian officials also view the railway as an opportunity to expand exports, promoting hundreds of other products in the Asian market.
Ferrovia de Integração Oeste-Leste (Fiol 1) em Sussuarana/BA - (02/09/2021). Image courtesy of Vinícius Rosa/Governo Federal.
Ferrovia de Integração Oeste-Leste (Fiol 1) em Sussuarana/BA - (02/09/2021). Image courtesy of Vinícius Rosa/Governo Federal.
In May, Brazilian and Chinese authorities, including Presidents Lula and Xi Jinping, discussed the proposed rail link connecting Brazil's Ilhéus Port on the Atlantic coast to Peru's new Pacific-facing Chancay Port, slicing South America and the Amazon Rainforest.
According to the Brazilian government, both parties are still evaluating the project's feasibility, but significant technical progress has already been made, with China expressing strong interest in the railway. In the coming weeks, Chinese technicians will visit Brazil to gather additional information.
"No memorandum has been signed, and no Chinese public or private funds have been invested so far," João Villaverde, secretary for institutional coordination at Brazil's planning ministry, told Mongabay by phone. "Brazil has presented the railway proposal. If China believes the project makes sense, it will commit to conducting a feasibility study. We will discuss project details after that study is completed. China has the expertise and capital to develop this railway, which is why we are interested in this partnership."
For China, the Bioceanic Corridor is a promising connection to the Chancay Port, one of many projects of China's Belt and Road Initiative, also known as the New Silk Road - a strategy aimed at expanding China's trade capacity and global influence. In November, President Xi Jinping visited Peru to inaugurate the new port, located about 75 km (47 mi) from the capital, Lima. The $3.4 billion project is led by the Chinese state-owned company COSCO, which holds a 60% stake in the venture.
Experts say the port, set to become the largest in South America, signals China's growing ambition to shape global trade routes. It also represents a concrete step toward increasing the flow of South American goods, particularly from Brazil, a major commodity exporter, through Pacific trade corridors.
According to Villaverde, Brazil sees the railway as an opportunity not only to increase commodity exports to China but also to strengthen ties with neighboring countries, helping to overcome historical isolation, which was largely due to the challenges of establishing connections in the Amazon region. The Andes Mountains and preserved swaths of rainforest have kept the neighbors apart. "Intra-regional trade indicators show a global average of around 50%. In South America, the figure is just 15%. It's a shame. We trade very little with our neighbors," he said.
Projected route for the Bioceanic Corridor. Map by Andrés Alegría/Mongabay.
Rails through the rainforest
The Bioceanic Corridor does not yet have a fully defined route, but the Brazilian government's proposal is already known. Starting from the Atlantic coast, the plan is to link the three sections of the West-East Integration Railway (FIOL) with two segments of the Central-West Integration Railway (FICO), both at different stages of construction at the moment. This route would pass through the Matopiba region, an expanding agricultural frontier for soy and cattle, which accounted for 75% of deforestation in the biodiverse Cerrado savanna in 2024.
From Lucas do Rio Verde, in the Amazonian state of Mato Grosso, the railway would be built from scratch, advancing into the region known as the Arc of Deforestation, which accounts for most deforestation in the biome. The proposed route would first continue north through the state of Rondônia to its capital, Porto Velho, running alongside the BR-364 federal highway, the region's primary driver of deforestation. From there, it would continue west through the state of Acre, following the BR-317 federal highway to Assis Brasil, a town on the border with Peru.
According to Villaverde, the strategy of building the Amazonian section of the railway alongside existing highways is intended to minimize environmental impacts and streamline the licensing process.
Brazilian planners altered a previously proposed route that would have followed the BR-364 highway to the westernmost municipality of Cruzeiro do Sul in Acre, a path that threatened the Serra do Divisor National Park and Indigenous communities in this border region between Brazil and Peru. The route now follows another highway in southern Acre to avoid Indigenous territories and areas of more intact forest.
"The plan is, in fact, to cut across Brazil from east to west," said Simone Tebet, Brazil's planning minister, during recent negotiations with Chinese officials, underscoring the magnitude of the project that has raised alarm among environmentalists. "When we talk about cutting across Brazil, we're talking about at least 3,000 km."
The words of Lula's minister echo a development vision that dates back to Brazil's military dictatorship (1964-85). At the time, the regime promoted a doctrine framing the Amazon as an open space for agribusiness and mining under the pretext of occupying the rainforest to "protect" the nation from foreign invaders - a vision often seen as paranoid by historians.
Construction of the FICO, which will be integrated into the future Bioceanic railway, is advancing in the state of Goiás, where a bridge is being built over a tributary of the Araguaia River. Image courtesy of Jeff D'Avila/ANTT.
Construction of the FICO, which will be integrated into the future Bioceanic railway, is advancing in the state of Goiás, where a bridge is being built over a tributary of the Araguaia River. Image courtesy of Jeff D'Avila/ANTT.
Imminent environmental impacts
The prospect of an extensive transport corridor boosting Brazilian commodity exports may be appealing from an economic perspective, but environmental activists warn that this new infrastructure network could harm Brazil's biomes, particularly the Amazon. They argue that the Bioceanic Corridor, along with roads, waterways and ports now being planned, could accelerate degradation, and potentially the collapse, of the rainforest.
"All large-scale infrastructure projects potentially have negative environmental impacts," Suely Araújo, public policy coordinator at the Climate Observatory, a network of civil society organizations, told Mongabay by phone. "The Amazon is characterized by the absence of state presence and a lack of oversight. These projects should be accompanied by a broad and consistent regional development plan, with adequate resources and means of implementation."
The Brazilian government argues that it is working toward this goal, involving 16 ministries in the integration route project to address multiple challenges, including environmental concerns. "All initiatives in Brazil must necessarily have the approval of environmental agencies, both at the federal and state levels, regardless of the mode of transportation or whether public or private funds are involved," Villaverde said.
However, the current scenario is marked by political and economic pressure for accelerated licensing, alongside growing criticism of IBAMA, Brazil's federal environmental agency. IBAMA was weakened during the administration of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-22) and now operates with limited capacity amid an expanding portfolio of projects. "There is no way to give the green light to several megaprojects at the same time," Araújo said. "This has to be understood. Environmental licenses are not mere bureaucracy. You don't just press a button, and the license is ready."
Araújo, a former president of IBAMA, notes that the ongoing dismantling of the environmental licensing framework through the Brazilian Congress includes legal provisions aimed at easing authorizations for projects deemed "strategic" that could be approved in a single step within a year. "The main tool for preventing damage is undergoing excessive relaxation. This list of major infrastructure projects in the Amazon is worrying, given the dismantling of environmental licensing. If the current rules are weakened, we all have to be very concerned," she said.
The new licensing bill has been approved by the Senate and now awaits a vote in the lower house, and it is widely expected to be approved.
The new railway would cross the Madeira River between the Amazonian states of Rondônia and Acre, following the route of the BR-364 federal highway. Image courtesy of Anderson Riedel/Governo Federal.
The new railway would cross the Madeira River between the Amazonian states of Rondônia and Acre, following the route of the BR-364 federal highway. Image courtesy of Anderson Riedel/Governo Federal.
Railways tend to cause less environmental impact than highways, and the Brazilian government claims the Bioceanic project will not cut through Indigenous lands or protected forest areas. Even so, environmentalists and local communities warn of potential negative consequences. There is concern that a new railway cutting through the Amazon Rainforest could repeat historical patterns associated with new highways, particularly agricultural expansion driven by land-grabbing, deforestation and other illegal activities.
"The impacts are not limited to routes that pass through Indigenous lands," Mariel Nakane, technical adviser for the Xingu Program at the Instituto Socioambiental (ISA), a Brazilian nonprofit that advocates for environmental and Indigenous rights, told Mongabay by phone.
According to her, the FIOL and FICO railways have affected many communities, although they cross areas that are already converted to agriculture and livestock. A section of the FICO railway, for example, threatens the headwaters of the Xingu River in Mato Grosso, impacting life within the Xingu Indigenous Park. "The new railway will pass close to several protected territories, driving the conversion of remaining forest areas that are fundamental to these peoples," she said.
An increasing demand for commodities would also mean new crops, ranches and mines - and closer to the railroad would be rationally far more competitive. That could boost deforestation and degradation in the Amazon, Pantanal and Cerrado due to the corridor, a risk intensified by the weak state oversight, according to Araújo.
Railway projects often take years to be developed and put forward. And, in 2026, Brazil will hold presidential elections. Lula is running for a fourth term, but today's polls show he faces a rough journey ahead. If he loses it, the nation will be once again in the hands of right-wing leaders, who are backing the dismantling of environmental licensing and other policies that hurt the environment. Brazilian voters will decide if Lula's well-intentioned plans, which already alarm environmentalists, will be carried out.
Banner image: Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Chinese President Xi Jinping greeted each other during a recent meeting where the two countries discussed the proposed Bioceanic railway. Image courtesy of Ricardo Stuckert/PR.
André Schröder
16 Jun 2025 Amazon
Brazilian and Chinese authorities - including Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Xi Jinping - recently discussed a proposed railway that would connect Brazil's Atlantic coast to Peru's new Pacific-facing Chancay Port, cutting through the Amazon.
From Lucas do Rio Verde, a major agricultural hub in the state of Mato Grosso, the railway would be built from scratch, advancing into the Amazon's Arc of Deforestation.
Planners intend to build the Amazonian section of the railway alongside existing highways, a strategy aimed at minimizing environmental impacts and streamlining the licensing process.
However, environmental activists warn that the Bioceanic Corridor, together with newly planned roads, waterways and ports, could accelerate deforestation and degradation in the rainforest.
Brazil is a country shaped by highways. The transportation model adopted by President Juscelino Kubitschek in the 1950s has been expanded by successive administrations across the political spectrum since then, involving substantial investments in road construction, maintenance and incentives for the automotive industry. This long-standing preference for cars, buses and trucks contributed to the decline and eventual scrapping of Brazil's railway system.
Experts say this philosophy helped increase logistics costs in Brazil, a country with continental proportions and long distances. Several officials have pledged to rebuild the railway system and lower shipping costs, but these promises faded as railroads proved expensive and often not lucrative for private investors.
This explains why President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's administration is so enthusiastic about the plan to build a 3,000-kilometer (1,864-mile) railway using Chinese technology and funding, connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific.
This new megaproject is a central piece of Brazil's infrastructure strategy to streamline the export of agricultural and mineral commodities to China via Pacific ports, cutting shipping times by up to 10 days compared with the current route across the Atlantic. Brazilian officials also view the railway as an opportunity to expand exports, promoting hundreds of other products in the Asian market.
Ferrovia de Integração Oeste-Leste (Fiol 1) em Sussuarana/BA - (02/09/2021). Image courtesy of Vinícius Rosa/Governo Federal.
Ferrovia de Integração Oeste-Leste (Fiol 1) em Sussuarana/BA - (02/09/2021). Image courtesy of Vinícius Rosa/Governo Federal.
In May, Brazilian and Chinese authorities, including Presidents Lula and Xi Jinping, discussed the proposed rail link connecting Brazil's Ilhéus Port on the Atlantic coast to Peru's new Pacific-facing Chancay Port, slicing South America and the Amazon Rainforest.
According to the Brazilian government, both parties are still evaluating the project's feasibility, but significant technical progress has already been made, with China expressing strong interest in the railway. In the coming weeks, Chinese technicians will visit Brazil to gather additional information.
"No memorandum has been signed, and no Chinese public or private funds have been invested so far," João Villaverde, secretary for institutional coordination at Brazil's planning ministry, told Mongabay by phone. "Brazil has presented the railway proposal. If China believes the project makes sense, it will commit to conducting a feasibility study. We will discuss project details after that study is completed. China has the expertise and capital to develop this railway, which is why we are interested in this partnership."
For China, the Bioceanic Corridor is a promising connection to the Chancay Port, one of many projects of China's Belt and Road Initiative, also known as the New Silk Road - a strategy aimed at expanding China's trade capacity and global influence. In November, President Xi Jinping visited Peru to inaugurate the new port, located about 75 km (47 mi) from the capital, Lima. The $3.4 billion project is led by the Chinese state-owned company COSCO, which holds a 60% stake in the venture.
Experts say the port, set to become the largest in South America, signals China's growing ambition to shape global trade routes. It also represents a concrete step toward increasing the flow of South American goods, particularly from Brazil, a major commodity exporter, through Pacific trade corridors.
According to Villaverde, Brazil sees the railway as an opportunity not only to increase commodity exports to China but also to strengthen ties with neighboring countries, helping to overcome historical isolation, which was largely due to the challenges of establishing connections in the Amazon region. The Andes Mountains and preserved swaths of rainforest have kept the neighbors apart. "Intra-regional trade indicators show a global average of around 50%. In South America, the figure is just 15%. It's a shame. We trade very little with our neighbors," he said.
Projected route for the Bioceanic Corridor. Map by Andrés Alegría/Mongabay.
Rails through the rainforest
The Bioceanic Corridor does not yet have a fully defined route, but the Brazilian government's proposal is already known. Starting from the Atlantic coast, the plan is to link the three sections of the West-East Integration Railway (FIOL) with two segments of the Central-West Integration Railway (FICO), both at different stages of construction at the moment. This route would pass through the Matopiba region, an expanding agricultural frontier for soy and cattle, which accounted for 75% of deforestation in the biodiverse Cerrado savanna in 2024.
From Lucas do Rio Verde, in the Amazonian state of Mato Grosso, the railway would be built from scratch, advancing into the region known as the Arc of Deforestation, which accounts for most deforestation in the biome. The proposed route would first continue north through the state of Rondônia to its capital, Porto Velho, running alongside the BR-364 federal highway, the region's primary driver of deforestation. From there, it would continue west through the state of Acre, following the BR-317 federal highway to Assis Brasil, a town on the border with Peru.
According to Villaverde, the strategy of building the Amazonian section of the railway alongside existing highways is intended to minimize environmental impacts and streamline the licensing process.
Brazilian planners altered a previously proposed route that would have followed the BR-364 highway to the westernmost municipality of Cruzeiro do Sul in Acre, a path that threatened the Serra do Divisor National Park and Indigenous communities in this border region between Brazil and Peru. The route now follows another highway in southern Acre to avoid Indigenous territories and areas of more intact forest.
"The plan is, in fact, to cut across Brazil from east to west," said Simone Tebet, Brazil's planning minister, during recent negotiations with Chinese officials, underscoring the magnitude of the project that has raised alarm among environmentalists. "When we talk about cutting across Brazil, we're talking about at least 3,000 km."
The words of Lula's minister echo a development vision that dates back to Brazil's military dictatorship (1964-85). At the time, the regime promoted a doctrine framing the Amazon as an open space for agribusiness and mining under the pretext of occupying the rainforest to "protect" the nation from foreign invaders - a vision often seen as paranoid by historians.
Construction of the FICO, which will be integrated into the future Bioceanic railway, is advancing in the state of Goiás, where a bridge is being built over a tributary of the Araguaia River. Image courtesy of Jeff D'Avila/ANTT.
Construction of the FICO, which will be integrated into the future Bioceanic railway, is advancing in the state of Goiás, where a bridge is being built over a tributary of the Araguaia River. Image courtesy of Jeff D'Avila/ANTT.
Imminent environmental impacts
The prospect of an extensive transport corridor boosting Brazilian commodity exports may be appealing from an economic perspective, but environmental activists warn that this new infrastructure network could harm Brazil's biomes, particularly the Amazon. They argue that the Bioceanic Corridor, along with roads, waterways and ports now being planned, could accelerate degradation, and potentially the collapse, of the rainforest.
"All large-scale infrastructure projects potentially have negative environmental impacts," Suely Araújo, public policy coordinator at the Climate Observatory, a network of civil society organizations, told Mongabay by phone. "The Amazon is characterized by the absence of state presence and a lack of oversight. These projects should be accompanied by a broad and consistent regional development plan, with adequate resources and means of implementation."
The Brazilian government argues that it is working toward this goal, involving 16 ministries in the integration route project to address multiple challenges, including environmental concerns. "All initiatives in Brazil must necessarily have the approval of environmental agencies, both at the federal and state levels, regardless of the mode of transportation or whether public or private funds are involved," Villaverde said.
However, the current scenario is marked by political and economic pressure for accelerated licensing, alongside growing criticism of IBAMA, Brazil's federal environmental agency. IBAMA was weakened during the administration of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-22) and now operates with limited capacity amid an expanding portfolio of projects. "There is no way to give the green light to several megaprojects at the same time," Araújo said. "This has to be understood. Environmental licenses are not mere bureaucracy. You don't just press a button, and the license is ready."
Araújo, a former president of IBAMA, notes that the ongoing dismantling of the environmental licensing framework through the Brazilian Congress includes legal provisions aimed at easing authorizations for projects deemed "strategic" that could be approved in a single step within a year. "The main tool for preventing damage is undergoing excessive relaxation. This list of major infrastructure projects in the Amazon is worrying, given the dismantling of environmental licensing. If the current rules are weakened, we all have to be very concerned," she said.
The new licensing bill has been approved by the Senate and now awaits a vote in the lower house, and it is widely expected to be approved.
The new railway would cross the Madeira River between the Amazonian states of Rondônia and Acre, following the route of the BR-364 federal highway. Image courtesy of Anderson Riedel/Governo Federal.
The new railway would cross the Madeira River between the Amazonian states of Rondônia and Acre, following the route of the BR-364 federal highway. Image courtesy of Anderson Riedel/Governo Federal.
Railways tend to cause less environmental impact than highways, and the Brazilian government claims the Bioceanic project will not cut through Indigenous lands or protected forest areas. Even so, environmentalists and local communities warn of potential negative consequences. There is concern that a new railway cutting through the Amazon Rainforest could repeat historical patterns associated with new highways, particularly agricultural expansion driven by land-grabbing, deforestation and other illegal activities.
"The impacts are not limited to routes that pass through Indigenous lands," Mariel Nakane, technical adviser for the Xingu Program at the Instituto Socioambiental (ISA), a Brazilian nonprofit that advocates for environmental and Indigenous rights, told Mongabay by phone.
According to her, the FIOL and FICO railways have affected many communities, although they cross areas that are already converted to agriculture and livestock. A section of the FICO railway, for example, threatens the headwaters of the Xingu River in Mato Grosso, impacting life within the Xingu Indigenous Park. "The new railway will pass close to several protected territories, driving the conversion of remaining forest areas that are fundamental to these peoples," she said.
An increasing demand for commodities would also mean new crops, ranches and mines - and closer to the railroad would be rationally far more competitive. That could boost deforestation and degradation in the Amazon, Pantanal and Cerrado due to the corridor, a risk intensified by the weak state oversight, according to Araújo.
Railway projects often take years to be developed and put forward. And, in 2026, Brazil will hold presidential elections. Lula is running for a fourth term, but today's polls show he faces a rough journey ahead. If he loses it, the nation will be once again in the hands of right-wing leaders, who are backing the dismantling of environmental licensing and other policies that hurt the environment. Brazilian voters will decide if Lula's well-intentioned plans, which already alarm environmentalists, will be carried out.
Banner image: Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Chinese President Xi Jinping greeted each other during a recent meeting where the two countries discussed the proposed Bioceanic railway. Image courtesy of Ricardo Stuckert/PR.
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