"Guyana road projects spark concerns for future development on wetlands", 21 May 2024

...Ongoing upgrades to roads through the southern part of Guyana have many conservationists on high alert, as the projects could impact forest and savanna ecosystems as well as Indigenous communities.

A series of roads traveling over 500 kilometers (310 miles) from the capital of Georgetown to the city of Lethem, in the south, are supposed to improve access to more rural parts of Guyana while facilitating international trade, most notably with Brazil. But the project also crosses sensitive wetlands and Indigenous communities, raising concerns about how the government will manage future development there...

In total, it will extend from 121 kilometers (75 miles) from the capital Georgetown to Liden then continue to the towns of Mabura Hill and Lethem...

In addition to the damage done by actual construction, conservationists and communities are concerned about how the government will manage long-term development that the roads bring to the area. Transport trucks traveling to Brazil require filling stations, rest stops, restaurants and hotels, among other infrastructure...

It identified pollution, over-harvesting, irresponsible hunting and unregulated mining as threats to ecosystems in the area...