Manuel Valdinesio Nunes de Franca holds the backpacks of Aurora Leal Bezerra, 5, Marilia Coelho and Yohana Coelho de Franca, 6, before boarding a boat to take them back home after school near Pedral do Lourenco, a natural rocky formation on the Tocantins River that may be blown up to build the Araguaia-Tocantins riverway, in the village of Tauari, in Itupiranga, Para State, Brazil, September 1, 2025. During legal hearings on site, neighbors told three visiting magistrates they worry about hazardous boat traffic replacing their fisheries. For the communities trying to stop the proposed blasting on the Tocantins River, the fear of displacement is palpable. "We'll lose space on the river to the barges carrying iron ore and agricultural goods," said community leader Ademar de Souza. "We're not sure about the future." REUTERS/Adriano Machado
