The proposed 933-km Ferrograo railway from Sinop to Miritituba has become a focal point at COP30 as Indigenous groups and environmentalists warn it could drive deforestation, land grabbing and displacement. Supporters argue the line would cut logistics costs by up to 40% and reduce heavy truck emissions, while critics point to inadequate licensing and recent government moves favoring river cargo and port expansion. The project's environmental review and Supreme Court challenges are ongoing.
Battle Over the Ferrograo: Proposed 933-km Railway Sparks Indigenous Protests at COP30
The proposed 933-km Ferrograo railway from Sinop to Miritituba has become a focal point at COP30 as Indigenous groups and environmentalists warn it could drive deforestation, land grabbing and displacement. Supporters argue the line would cut logistics costs by up to 40% and reduce heavy truck emissions, while critics point to inadequate licensing and recent government moves favoring river cargo and port expansion. The project's environmental review and Supreme Court challenges are ongoing.
10:35 AM, 11/20/2025Environment
Indigenous delegates at COP30 in Belém have placed a proposed 933-kilometre (580-mile) railway, the Ferrograo or "Grain Railway," at the center of protests, warning it could open new frontiers of deforestation and displacement in the Amazon.
The proposal
The Ferrograo would run from Sinop in the central state of Mato Grosso to the river port of Miritituba on the Tapajós River, allowing grain to travel by barge to the Amazon and the Atlantic. Mato Grosso supplies roughly 32% of Brazil's grain production, and supporters argue the line would significantly shorten long, truck-heavy routes to seaports and river ports.
Supporters' case
Proponents from the agricultural sector say the railway is a strategic logistics upgrade. Elisangela Pereira Lopes, a technical adviser at CNA, Brazil's main farmers' organization, says Mato Grosso "needs a more efficient logistics route" to keep pace with expanding production. Supporters estimate the line could reduce export logistics costs by up to 40%, cut heavy truck traffic and lower CO2 emissions associated with road transport.
Critics' concerns
Environmentalists, Indigenous leaders and socio-environmental researchers warn that new transport infrastructure often accelerates deforestation, land grabbing and social displacement. Mariel Nakane of the Socio-Environmental Institute (ISA) says the Ferrograo could encroach on Indigenous territories and intensify pressures already felt along the Tapajós River, where increased port and barge activity has disrupted riverside communities and local fisheries.
Riverside communities are being expelled; they can no longer fish in some regions because now it's just ports and barge traffic. The railway risks multiplying volumes on this route and magnifying those impacts.
Critics also point to other contested government moves near the Amazon, including recent oil exploration near the Amazon River and plans to pave the BR-319 highway, arguing that current environmental licensing procedures are inadequate to protect the forest and its inhabitants.
Why it's featured at COP30
With the global spotlight on Belém for the UN climate summit, Indigenous communities have used the forum to amplify local grievances. A presidential decree issued in August prioritizing major Amazon rivers, including the Tapajós, for cargo navigation and private port expansion has intensified fears of irreversible change. Munduruku leader Alessandra Korap summarized those concerns: the river is central to livelihoods and culture, and communities oppose developments that threaten it.
Legal and licensing status
Brazil's environmental agency Ibama says the Ferrograo's licensing is in an early stage, with an environmental viability assessment underway. The project has faced legal hurdles: in 2021 a Supreme Court judge suspended plans that would have altered national park boundaries to accommodate the railway. The case resumed in 2023 and a subsequent hearing paused after another justice asked for more time to review the matter. The legal process remains active and contested.
As debate continues, the Ferrograo has become emblematic of a broader clash over development, climate commitments and the rights of Indigenous and riverside communities in the Amazon.