Road Expansion in the Amazonian Rainforest
Deforestation and forest degradation, their effects on climate change, international agreements, the growth of illegal extractive industries, and the dangers presented to indigenous people are among the many and varied environmental and social issues connected to the road construction of isolated and remote Amazonian regions.
From the industrial revolution to today’s era of globalization, infrastructure expansion has enabled growth through productivity, improvements in living standards, increased employment, and improved efficiency and mobility. This pattern, however, is not one found within the context of the Global South, particularly for the Amazonian regions. As our planet's largest rainforest and home to 385 indigenous communities, the Amazon is also home to the greatest amount of biodiversity on the planet. From a global perspective, the rainforest plays a great role in regulating climate and earth cycles, all while acting as an important carbon sink for greenhouse gasses. Based on the commercialization and exploitation of raw materials, the Amazon is considered economically to be a source of resources, energy, and income. Among Amazonian communities, agriculture makes up most of the economic activity following, often illegal, logging and mining. As a result of road construction and other large-scale projects, tropical forests are experiencing a great deal of change. Infrastructure development in this context intends to open domestic markets while simultaneously integrating communities to greater education, health care, and further however in practice, tend to frequently deteriorate the state of the environment, poverty, and corruption. Consequently, opportunities for growth and prosperity are impeded, and local communities' economic conditions and quality of life worsen.
Deforestation and forest degradation, their effects on climate change, international agreements, the growth of illegal extractive industries, and the dangers presented to indigenous people are among the many and varied environmental and social issues connected to the road construction of isolated and remote Amazonian regions. Road expansion has occurred illegally regardless of the environmental legislation in place preventing the execution of such dangerous infrastructure projects. Thus, the problem is not necessarily with legislation but with the way in which enforcement is executed or lack thereof. These problems include regional and national tensions in development policies, international commitments, systemic corruption, inadequate institutional efficiency, and a continuous tendency toward chaotic decentralization of authority within Amazonian countries as observed recently in Peru and Brazil. Lack of monitoring, police surveillance and overall government presence reduces barriers to forest mismanagement and illegal economic activity, emphasizing the need for institutional intervention and investment.
The failed promises of infrastructure development are deeply illustrated through the experience of Peru’s Manu Road development in southwestern Peru. The Manu Road, which was extended to the town of Shintuya years ago, has generated no observable evidence for generating economic improvement and the region is now barren of natural resources (SPDA). This experience is not isolated to Peru, Brazil’s road developments, even incomplete ones like 319, almost invariably result in a wave of newcomers and significant forest devastation. New residents frequently construct illicit side paths into virgin areas of the rainforest where they may engage in illegal economic activity including unauthorized mining, logging, and cattle raising, leading to a "fishbone" pattern of deforestation.
Considering the extractive nature of Amazonian economies, much less invasive development strategies are required. As the objective of road development is to facilitate transportation, the most optimal solution would be through the development of the already existing boating networks as local communities are not currently able to meet the financial means of boating development themselves (ORYX). That said, regional government subsidies and support programs for waterborne transportation might fulfill the modest requirements of small communities at greatly lower financial costs as well as reduce the environmental and societal consequences of infrastructure development. Furthermore, development needs may be directed towards the improvement of economic conditions and agricultural capabilities as these improvements would directly constitute a great role not only in productivity increases, but in quality-of-life breakthroughs. By increasing the currently insufficient technical assistance provided to local farmers, it may be possible to intensify the use of already-cultivated land while reducing the environmental costs associated with opening access to undisturbed woods.
Given these particular social, political, and environmental circumstances, coupled with the distinct colonial, institutional, and historical experiences of the Global South, it is important for policies to consider alternative solutions for development. Most notably in regions rich in resources, as they are inherently exposed to greater corruption, economic decline as well as for the prevention of environmental and livelihood degradation. These differences in pre-conditions therefore demand distancing from Western developmental ideologies and towards community-oriented and inclusive solutions such as the ones presented, limited to but not excluding; the development of boating networks, agricultural assistance and institutional improvement. Additionally, understanding the experience of community members and allowing for more participatory research to operate in cooperation with objective approaches to poverty, offers a local perspective we often ignore in development planning. This room for local voices in discussions of development therefore, must be included for sustainable economic growth and prosperity.
Written by Veronica Valenti