The makeshift road tears through the emerald canopy, splintering one of the Amazon’s most pristine corridors of rainforest. Along the edges of the road, running through the heart of the Terra do Meio Ecological Station, swaths of jungle have been razed and turned into pasture.

Under federal protection since 2005, Terra do Meio spans 3.37 million hectares (8.33 million acres) across the municipalities of Altamira and São Félix do Xingu, strongholds of Brazilian cattle ranching. Tucked deep into the Xingu Basin, it’s part of an ecological mosaic of 28 conservation areas and 21 Indigenous territories that together form a tapestry of forest treasured for its rich biodiversity.

Although virtually all human activity is barred within Terra do Meio, the reserve has been battered by invasions in recent years, losing 15,740 hectares (39,000 acres) of primary rainforest between 2019 and 2022, according to data from the University of Maryland visualized on Global Forest Watch.

And, despite a sharp drop in overall deforestation across the Amazon this year, the incursions into Terra do Meio have not let up: satellites detected 171,259 high-confidence deforestation alerts between Jan. 6 and Nov. 20 within the protected reserve, the data show.

Environmentalists largely blame the devastation within Terra do Meio on pressure from invaders bent on opening up a strategic transport route slicing through the rainforest. They say this risks creating a dangerous new route for illegal timber, gold and – eventually – soy or beef destined for export.

“It’s this relentless effort to open up this road,” said Ane Alencar, science director at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM). “And it’s placing huge pressure on the reserve.”

The clandestine road stretches 43 kilometers, starting in the Área de Proteção Ambiental (APA) Triunfo do Xingu and running through Terra do Meio before entering into the Iriri State Forest, according to analysis by Rede Xingu+, a network of nonprofits monitoring deforestation in the Xingu Basin. There, it halts near another illegal road leading to a clandestine gold mine deep in the rainforest.

In May, authorities created a barrier at the main entry of the Terra do Meio reserve in a bid to halt the invasions, a spokesperson for Brazil’s environmental ministry said. Environmental police also carried out a series of operations in the region earlier this year, handing out R$ 18.9 million ($3.9 million USD) in fines between April and July, placing 2,000 hectares (4,942 acres) under embargo, and identifying those responsible for the construction of the illegal road within Terra do Meio.

But experts worry about a persistent push to open up a final stretch of this clandestine route linking São Félix do Xingu and Novo Progresso, two hubs of deforestation. Environmental advocates fear this would open the floodgates to destruction in one of the Amazon’s most ecologically rich areas.

“The impact would be enormous,” said Ane Alencar, science director at IPAM. “The consolidation of this route would be an attack on the heart of Terra do Meio.”

read more: https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/in-brazils-amazon-a-clandestine-road-threatens-a-pristine-reserve/