The rapidly expanding network of roads in the Amazon is permanently altering the world’s largest tropical rainforest. In the next five years, more than 10,000 kilometers of roads will be built or improved in the Amazon. Well-designed projects can increase employment opportunities, reduce transport costs, and support regional development. However, roads will also drive deforestation, threatening biodiversity and ecosystem services, jeopardizing the welfare of indigenous people, and moving the biome toward irreversible shifts in vegetation.
This webinar will discuss the findings of the study developed by the Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF) that analyzes the expected environmental, social and economic impacts of 75 road projects, totaling 12000 kilometers of planned roads, in the Amazon region. This study contributes to informed decision-making by quantifying the environmental, social and economic effects of the planned projects.
Chair
Adriana Moreira – Senior Environmental Specialist, Manager of the Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Program, World Bank
Speaker
Thaís Vilela – Senior Economist, Conservation Strategy Fund
Discussant
Richard Damania – Chief Economist of the Sustainable Development Practice Group, World Bank
Adriana Moreira:Senior Environmental Specialist of the World Bank, leads a series of large projects in Latin America, focusing on Brazil, Colombia and Mexico and is the coordinator of Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Program. Biologist with a PhD in Ecology from the University of Harvard (USA), Adriana is an expert in environment and sustainable development, with over 20-year experience in natural resources management, rural development and climate change. Author and co-author of four books and dozens of scientific publications, she was a founder and the first president of the Institute for Amazonian Research (IPAM) and founder and board member of the Brazilian Women Leaders Network for Sustainability, which involves leaders from private sector, government and civil society. She has received the Chico Mendes Florestania Prize and the Pirelli International Award for her work on conservation and sustainable development of the Brazilian Amazon.
Thaís Vilela:Senior Economist of the Conservation Strategy Fund.Thais is an applied economist with a focus on energy and the environment. In her work, she evaluates government policies using broad measures of benefits and costs: economic, social, and environmental. She has written reports on infrastructure projects, such as dams and roads; protected areas, their impact on the environment and local communities, and their touristic potential; the design of marketplaces for environmental reserve quotas; energy planning; and fuel markets. Before joining CSF in 2015, Thais was a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley, worked at the consulting firm Engenho, and at the think tank Grupo de Economia da Energia. Thais has a Ph.D. from PUC-Rio, a Masters from UFRJ, and a BA from FGV-EPGE,all in Economics.
Richard Damania: Chief Economist of the Sustainable Development Practice Group, of the World Bank. He has held several positions in the World Bank including as Senior Economic Advisor in the Water Practice, Lead Economist in the Africa Region’s Sustainable Development Department, in the South Asia and Latin America and Caribbean Regions of the World Bank. His work has spanned across multiple sectors and has helped the World Bank become an acknowledged thought-leader on matters relating to environment, water and the economy. Prior to joining the World Bank, he was Professor of Economics at the University of Adelaide. He has published extensively with over 100 papers in scientific journals, has held numerous advisory positions with governments and in international organizations and serves on the Editorial Board of several prestigious scientific journals.
Calendar » Webinar: Roads in the Amazon – A better network for people and the environment.
Webinar: Roads in the Amazon – A better network for people and the environment.
12:00pm – 1:30pm Washington D.C.
Presentation English | Presentation Español | Watch the recording
The rapidly expanding network of roads in the Amazon is permanently altering the world’s largest tropical rainforest. In the next five years, more than 10,000 kilometers of roads will be built or improved in the Amazon. Well-designed projects can increase employment opportunities, reduce transport costs, and support regional development. However, roads will also drive deforestation, threatening biodiversity and ecosystem services, jeopardizing the welfare of indigenous people, and moving the biome toward irreversible shifts in vegetation.
This webinar will discuss the findings of the study developed by the Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF) that analyzes the expected environmental, social and economic impacts of 75 road projects, totaling 12000 kilometers of planned roads, in the Amazon region. This study contributes to informed decision-making by quantifying the environmental, social and economic effects of the planned projects.
Adriana Moreira – Senior Environmental Specialist, Manager of the Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Program, World Bank
Thaís Vilela – Senior Economist, Conservation Strategy Fund
Richard Damania – Chief Economist of the Sustainable Development Practice Group, World Bank
Thaís Vilela: Senior Economist of the Conservation Strategy Fund. Thais is an applied economist with a focus on energy and the environment. In her work, she evaluates government policies using broad measures of benefits and costs: economic, social, and environmental. She has written reports on infrastructure projects, such as dams and roads; protected areas, their impact on the environment and local communities, and their touristic potential; the design of marketplaces for environmental reserve quotas; energy planning; and fuel markets. Before joining CSF in 2015, Thais was a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley, worked at the consulting firm Engenho, and at the think tank Grupo de Economia da Energia. Thais has a Ph.D. from PUC-Rio, a Masters from UFRJ, and a BA from FGV-EPGE, all in Economics.
Richard Damania: Chief Economist of the Sustainable Development Practice Group, of the World Bank. He has held several positions in the World Bank including as Senior Economic Advisor in the Water Practice, Lead Economist in the Africa Region’s Sustainable Development Department, in the South Asia and Latin America and Caribbean Regions of the World Bank. His work has spanned across multiple sectors and has helped the World Bank become an acknowledged thought-leader on matters relating to environment, water and the economy. Prior to joining the World Bank, he was Professor of Economics at the University of Adelaide. He has published extensively with over 100 papers in scientific journals, has held numerous advisory positions with governments and in international organizations and serves on the Editorial Board of several prestigious scientific journals.