Impactos ambientais de propostas de reabertura do Caminho-do-Colono no Parque Nacional do Iguaçu, Paraná

Abstract

Roads are essential for the connection and maintenance of contemporary human populations, however, their construction and use cause several environmental impacts, especially when they intersect areas of natural remnants. The projects of law aimed at reopening the Caminho-do-Colono in the Iguaçu National Park are examples of the conflict between the expansion of the road network and environmental conservation. The objective of this thesis was to evaluate the impacts of projects that aim to reopen the Caminho-do-Colono in the Iguaçu National Park. We found that (i) increased accessibility will make illegal predatory practices such as hunting, fishing and palm-heart extraction more frequent in the region affected by Caminho-do-Colono; (ii) the ecological ICMS from the Iguaçu National Park is vital for the financial health of some neighboring municipalities and the reopening of the Caminho-do-Colono could negatively affect the economy of these municipalities; (iii) contrary to what is defended by the local population, the economy of the municipalities and the region was not affected by the closure of Caminho-do-Colono. In view of the social and environmental risks that may be caused due to the reopening of the Caminho-do-Colono, we instruct that the projects under analysis be rejected in the legislative, executive or judicial bodies. The reopening of the Caminho-do-Colono violates the collective guarantee of the right to an ecologically balanced environment, for common use and essential to a healthy quality of life, with the public authorities responsible for defending and preserving the environment for present and future generations. Therefore, the reopening of Caminho-do-Colono should not be considered as a path to development but rather as a contribution to the loss of biodiversity, which will bring (or has already brought) profound economic impacts to human populations.