Trans-Brazil Trail Raises Hopes For Future Of Atlantic Forest

Rio de Janeiro, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Aug, 2019 ) :Luiz Pedreira walks with other hikers beneath the Atlantic Forest's thick canopy in Brazil, where an 8,000-kilometre (5,000-mile) trail stretching the full length of the country is being opened up.

He says he hopes that the creation of the trail, one of the world's longest, will raise awareness about the fragility of the forest -- long devastated by loggers and farmers, and now facing a renewed threat under President Jair Bolsonaro.

"If you don't know something, you don't value it," says Pedreira.

Inspired by long-distance tracks such as Canada's 24,000-kilometer Great Trail, the project will connect paths from the southern town of Chui on Brazil's border with Uruguay, to Oiapoque on its northern frontier with French Guiana.

The result will be a continuous coastal corridor for humans and animals.

Work is already under way on the trail, which has the backing of Brazil's environment and tourism ministries, but it could take years to complete.

"If you know something, if you are always in the forest, you will value it more," Pedreira tells AFP as he stands near a cliff offering 180-degree views of the heavily forested mountains and granite monoliths that divide Rio de Janeiro's neighborhoods.

"It allows people to connect to the forest."