November 1, 2025

Deep in Brazil’s Amazon Basin, a jagged rocky spot called Pedral do Lourenco in the Tocantins River faces a big threat. The government wants to blast through these natural rapids to create the Araguaia-Tocantins riverway—a huge water highway for barges moving soy and corn all year. This $7.3 billion plan aims to rival the mighty Mississippi River in moving grains cheaply and fast, boosting Brazil's place in the global market. But hold on—local fishermen like Welton de Franca and his family aren’t happy. "We can't go anywhere without our boats. We live from the fish," Welton says, remembering how his family settled by these rocks as he was a boy. The blasting could destroy their fishing grounds and force them out. Federal prosecutors are pushing to stop the project, urging courts to think about how the blasting and dredging (a 22-mile channel plus 110 more miles of river work) will hurt riverside communities. They worry new, risky barge traffic could replace the calm river life where people fish, ferry children to school, and harvest babassu coconuts. Scientists warn the blast will wreck rare rapids that are a safe haven for endangered fish, turtles, and dolphins. Alberto Akama from the Emilio Goeldi Museum says the biodiversity loss could be irreversible. The environment agency Ibama approved blasting only outside sensitive animal breeding seasons and promised monitoring and relocating turtle nests. The transport agency DNIT said they will try to scare animals away before blasting. Para’s Governor Helder Barbalho says, "The state of Para believes it is possible to reconcile environmental preservation with economic development." He highlights the cleaner, cheaper freight the riverway could bring. Brazil expects the riverway to carry about 20 million metric tons of corn and soybeans annually, cutting costly, polluting truck journeys. But it’s not simple. The United Nations COP30 climate talks in Belem this November will discuss the project’s full impact. That’s because while cheaper transport could lower emissions, it might also push farmers to clear more Amazon rainforest and Cerrado savannah land, speeding up deforestation. The Matopiba region, a farming hotspot near these rivers, keeps expanding, threatening traditional ways of life. Maria de Sousa, a babassu coconut harvester, says their livelihood is already under attack by farming expansions. "If they open the waterway, we won’t be able to collect the coconuts," she explains. She adds that neighbors poison coconut palms to clear land, calling babassu a "plague"—but for the locals, it means survival. Experts like logistics pro Thiago Pera note river barges cost about 60% less than trucks for long-distance shipping, fueling the farm boom. Yet, climate think tanks show that even "clean" transport like rail and waterways can cause huge indirect emissions by encouraging more farmland and destroying forests. Community leaders like Ademar de Souza fear losing their space on the river to barges laden with iron ore and grains. "We’re not sure about the future," he says. As blastings loom, this quiet river corner could become Brazil’s future economic highway—or a lost fishing paradise.

Read More at Thehindubusinessline →

Tags: Amazon Riverway, Araguaia-Tocantins, Brazil Agriculture, River Blasting, Fishermen Impact, Biodiversity Loss,