Rail or road – what is the best mode of transport for free flow of goods from Brazil to China? PHOTO: Andrew Snyder

China recently announced plans to build a 5,300 km railway linking the Atlantic with the Pacific, cutting through the heart of the Amazon jungle in Brazil and Peru. Environmental groups are concerned that the railway will threaten sensitive ecosystems, wildlife and indigenous peoples. Indeed on the face of it, this would be a disaster for conservation in the most biologically rich place on Earth. But is a train line in fact the lesser of two evils?

Roads bring access to previously remote areas – and consequently bring down a cascade of problems on tropical forests. Logging, mining, and hunting result in the destruction of forests, all paving the way for their complete conversion to agriculture. Indeed, in the Amazon 95% of deforestation occurs within 5km of a road. Train lines on the other hand are usually state-controlled and more easily regulated. The proposed line will cost an estimated US$10 billion to build and will reduce the cost of shipping oil, iron ore, soya, beef and other commodities from Brazil and Peru to Asian markets.

So what are the potential problems of a railway and how can they be avoided? Reports suggest that the proposed route could increase access to remote tribes living in voluntary isolation throughout the forests of Peru’s Madre de Dios region. This area is also among the most species-rich places on Earth: home to more than 10,000 species of plants, 600 species of birds and 200 mammal species. In addition, the railway is likely to pass through Brazil’s Cerrado, a unique area of tropical woodland and grassland which provides key habitat for iconic and threatened species including the maned wolf, giant anteater and Spix’s macaw, outlines The Scroll.

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