RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL—A controversial mega-project to build a transcontinental railway from the Atlantic to the Pacific has caused outrage among indigenous people and the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights.

The railway, which is backed by the Chinese government, would cross through many Indigenous territories and areas of high biodiversity across the Amazon rainforest in Peru and Brazil. If realized, it would wreak havoc on Indigenous peoples’ lands and lives by opening up the area to industrial exploitation, illegal mining and logging, and encourage colonization.

Ninawá Kaxinawá, an Indigenous leader whose community lives near the proposed railway line, stated “This railway is evil and it threatens our people. For us Indians and our uncontacted relatives, this project represents a deadly danger which would put an end to our forest and our lives!”

Uncontacted tribes are the most vulnerable societies on the planet. They would face devastation from invasions into their lands. Whole populations could be wiped out by violence from outsiders and by diseases like flu and measles to which they have no resistance.

The trans-Amazon railway will run over thousands of miles and is likely to cause even more devastation of the Amazon rainforest and its peoples. While studies show that tribal peoples are the best conservationists, their lands are facing an onslaught of development projects.