About 800 houses were demolished to make way for rehabilitation and expansion of Mbuji-Mayi Airport. Many affected people said compensation did not match the real value of their land plots.
Aerial imagery shows changes to the northern section of Mbuji-Mayi Airport between June 2023 and May 2025. In addition to runway works, roads have been widened and buildings next to the airport demolished and replaced with fast-growing vegetation.
Rehabilitation of Mbuji-Mayi Airport, located in the northeast of the city of Mbuji-Mayi, the capital of the Kasai-Oriental Province in south central DR Congo, is part of the Priority Air Safety Project – Phase 2 (PPSA 2) project financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB). Project components include runway extension, construction of aircraft parking aprons, control tower and works to improve aviation safety. AfDB’s 2018 Summary Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMP) noted that the project area consists of neighbourhoods situated near the airport with dwellings and agricultural plots on the site; some activities including runway extension were postponed to enable studies and mobilisation of funding for involuntary resettlement. In February 2021 the mayor of Mbuji-Mayi set up a commission to identify all affected people who would be evicted, then in March he made reassurances that state obligations for the eviction of people who had built and rented houses would be followed.
Bulldozing of unauthorised buildings around Mbuji-Mayi Airport began on 7th November 2022. The airport project necessitated displacement of approximately 800 households but compensation of affected people was suspended in October 2023 because the census was inadequate and the process had not been accepted by all the residents with some continuing to resist. People whose land was expropriated began receiving compensation cheques on 13th October yet some voiced concerns about finding a new site, the compensation amount and demanded more transparency and guarantees regarding their property rights.
On 21st October 2023 residents whose land was expropriated for the airport project demonstrated in the street denouncing insufficient compensation, burning tyres at two road junctions before police attempted, unsuccessfully, to disperse them. An emergency meeting failed to reach an agreement satisfactory to plot owners who were given a 15-day ultimatum to relocate after receipt of compensation. In February 2024, as works at Mbuji-Mayi Airport were underway, owners of nearly 800 houses on the site were given two weeks’ notice to dismantle their homes. Occupants maintained that the compensation offer did not match the value of their assets.
On 17th July 2024 the mayor of Mbuji-Mayi announced imminent demolition of houses built on the airport site, in the name of expropriation for public purposes. Plot owners had been given tokens for replacement land on the outskirts of Mbuji-Mayi but had not vacated or demolished their houses; 800 families still contested expropriation due to lack of recognition of the market value of their plots. A delegation of residents living around the airport requested protection and support from the provincial authority and respect for expropriation law as recognised in the constitution.
Early on the morning of 29th October 2024 demolition of houses east of Mbuji-Mayi Airport, between Zaire and Dodoma avenues, began. Heavy machinery was escorted by police, as owners of the buildings demanded compensation matching the real value of their property. All their efforts, including marches, sit-in protest and suicide threats, had not dissuaded the government from expropriating the land plots. On the instructions of the president of DRC, Félix Tshisekedi, Minister of Social Affairs, Humanitarian Action and Solidarity, Nathalie Aziza Munana, visited Mbuji-Mayi on 10th November to investigate the demolition of 800 houses near the airport, collect information about evictions and meet with victims and civil society organisations. Minister of Justice, Constant Mutamba, said he had been contacted by several citizens who had not yet received the compensation they were promised, raising suspicions of misappropriation of funds allocated for this purpose.
For more information including references for all source material and photos see the case study on EJAtlas, the world’s largest, most comprehensive online database of social conflict around environmental issues – Mbuji-Mayi Airport rehabilitation, DRC
Land clearance and consutruction of Gia Binh Airport, on the largest airport site in North Vietnam. is underway. Since approval of the project the projected passenger capacity has risen to 50 million per year by 2050. A VIP terminal is scheduled for completion in time for APEC 27.
Aerial imagery of Gia Binh Airport site. The image on the left shows the site on 26/04/2024 before construction works began. The image on the right, dated 17/07/2025, shows land cleared for runways and other airport infrastructure.
A major new airport in Gia Binh, about 40 kilometres east of Hanoi in a rural area of Vietnam’s Bac Ninh province, was approved by the Ministry of Transport in February 2025, with capacity for 1 million passengers annually by 2030, rising to 3 million by 2050. By April the planned capacity had been adjusted upwards to 5 million passengers annually by 2030 rising to 15 million by 2050. In July the size of the airport project was scaled upwards again, to handle 30 million passengers per year by 2030 then reaching 50 million by 2050. Since publication of the original plan the projected cargo volume had more than doubled, from 250,000 tons annually by 2030 growing to 1 million tons by 2050 to 1.6 million tons by 2030 growing to 2.5 million tons by 2050. With its site enlarged nearly fivefold, from an initial 408.5 hectares to 1,960 hectares, Gia Binh Airport is now set to be northern Vietnam’s largest airport, bigger than Noi Bai Airport and Tan Son Nhat Airport, exceeded only by the 5,000 hectare site of Long Thanh Airport in the southern Dong Nai province.
In August the government approved special mechanisms fast tracking investment and construction processes for the airport, related works, land clearance and resettlement, exempting projects from construction permit requirements and approving conversion of rice crop land. About 920 hectares of rice fields yielding two crops per year will be converted for the airport. Land allocated for the Gia Binh Airport site comprises about 1,184.78 hectares of agricultural land, 415 hectares of non-agricultural land, 159.4 hectares of residential land and 124.8 hectares of land utilized for defence and security purposes. Land acquisition will affect approximately 7,100 households and individuals and 118 organizations. About 5,800 households and individuals will have to relocate and resettle. The number of graves that will be moved is estimated at 18,800 but this does not include unidentified graves. Development of Gia Binh Airport is triggering one of the largest land clearances in recent history.
Schools and hospitals along with infrastructure such as irrigation systems, canals, pumping stations and power transmission lines will also have to be removed to make way for the airport and rebuilt elsewhere. About 25 historical and cultural sites must also be relocated as part of land clearance for the airport. By mid-November initial groundworks for construction of the airport and development of supporting infrastrucure were underway. Heavy machinery was operating continuously to level the airport site and barriers and signs restricted access to construction zones. The provincial government had paid more than VND1,990 trillion (USD81 million) in compensation to 4,045 households in the Gia Binh, Nhan Thang and Luong Tai communes, accelerating clearance of more than 436 hectares of land. Clearance of agricultural plots of land was scheduled to be finished by 30th November with resettlement areas due for completion by 15th December.
Gia Binh Airport will accommodate large, wide-bodied aircraft including the Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 and plans specify four runways upon completion by 2050. The investment requirement is estimated at VND 196.37 trillion (USD7.5 billion). As well as becoming a major aviation hub the airport project will open up land surrounding it for development including hotels, airport-adjacent hospitality, and airport city projects. The Ministry of Construction had considered expanding Noi Bai Airport southwards, but this would have necessitated relocation of large communities and incur high land clearance costs. With larger land reserves and more space for development than Noi Bai Airport, the government expects Gia Binh Airport to accelerate growth of industry, logistics, e-commerce and tourism.
In addition to dual-use function as a civil and military facility with a strategic role in national defence Gia Binh Airport is designed to support major diplomatic events, in particular Vietnam’s hosting of the 2027 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation inter-governmental forum, APEC 2027. Elite APEC officials will be among the first passengers to arrive at Gia Binh Airport; a ‘soft opening‘ in time for APEC 2027 is planned, with one runway operational along with the air traffic control tower and a VIP terminal. Many key APEC 2027 events, most notably the annual Leaders’ Summit, will take place on Phu Quoc, Vietnam’s largest island located near the south coast of Cambodia, which is rapidly developing as a luxury tourism destination. Fast-paced expansion of Phu Quoc Airport to support APEC 27 Leaders’ Week is underway. One of the high-priority projects is a VIP terminal to welcome heads of state and high-ranking delegations to the APEC 27 leaders’ meeting. Longer term plans for Phu Quoc Airport expansion aim to increase passenger capacity from the current 4 million to 50 million by 2050.
Sudden felling of forest next to Fortaleza Airport, in northeatern Brazil, to make way for a large logistics center met with protest from citizens and environmental groups, suspension of the project and proposals for an environmental protection zone around the airport.
On 23rd September 2025 it was reported that 32 hectares of forest adjacent to Fortaleza Airport (also known as Pinto Martins International Airport), an area known as Airport Forest, had been felled to make way for a logistics center. The trees had been removed before the requisite documentation, submitted by project developer Aerotrópolis Empreendimentos and airport operator Fraport Brasil, had been evaluated by Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA), (Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) which requested evaluation of documentation in response to allegations that the licensing process had violated Atlantic Forest Law.
Aerial imagery of Fortaleza Airport showing deforestation that was reported in September 2025
Deodato Ramalho, IBAMA superintendent, said the forest around Fortaleza Airport and Cocó state park are the only city’s only remains of the Atlantic Forest, extending along a long stretch of Brazil’s Atlantic coast and important for temperature regulation and flood prevention. Ecologist and Fortaleza city councillor Gabriel Aguiar said trees had been felled with chainsaws and reforesting the area would take many years. Daniel Pagliuca, an environmental lawyer and professor at Baturité Massif University Center, said forest clearance can be permitted for projects with public utility, but a logistics center would not directly benefit the local population. Animal rights experts raised concerns that many animals’ lives were in danger as forest clearance forced them into urban settlements. Images on social media showed animals climbing walls and poles around the airport.
Following analysis and site investigation Aerotrópolis Empreendimentos’ license and authorisation were suspended due to intervention in a Preservação Permanente (APP), (Permanent Preservation Area) and wildlife management inadequacies. Aguiar said the tree felling around the airport was the largest deforestation in a decade. Before and after satellite images showed total removal of trees and partial construction of a warehouse in the project area, immediately north of the western end of the runway. Residents and environmental and civil society organizations raised concerns over the logistics center project’s environmental impacts and demanded improved transparency in the licensing process.
During the 2nd October 2025 Encontro Nacional de Gerenciamento Costeiro (National Coastal Management Meeting) members of several social movements protested devastation of the Atlantic Forest around Fortaleza Airport. Environmental leaders from all over the country along with Ceará citizens called for revocation of Fraport’s license, accountability for the firms involved and reforestation of the deforested area. A banner read ‘Who killed the airport forest? 40 hectares of Atlantic forest devastated’ and signs stated that Atlantic Forest had been felled in the absence of a socio-environmental study or wildlife management. A total of 46-hectares had been cleared for construction of a logistics center, which has the potential to be one of the largest facilities of its kind in northeastern Brazil with seven warehouses, a truck service center, gas station and fuelling point. Residents around the impacted area were experiencing higher temperatures; preliminary research comparing surface temperatures from the same time period the previous year indicated an increase of at least 6 per cent, thought to be related to the deforestation.
After an inspection uncovered irregularities including removal of vegetation exceeding authorized limits SEMACE issued Aerotrópolis Empreendimentos with a USD37,315 fine and suspended land use permits in the affected area. At a conference considering amendments to the draft Fortaleza Master Plan a 200-hectare Zona de Preservação Ambiental (ZPA), (Environmental Protection Zone) around Fortaleza Airport, encompassing the deforested land, was approved. Professor Renato Pequero said the designation increased the possibility that the deforested area might be restored. Gabriel Aguiar welcomed the victory and called for the city’s biggest ever mobilization to ensure approval of the ZPA proposal.
Fortaleza Airport City plan graphic – Fraport announced expansion on land adjacent to Fortaleza Airport in 2022. Source: Fraport Brasil
The logistics center next to Fortaleze Airport is part of a larger airport city project. In July 2022, Fraport Brasil announced expansion onto land adjacent to the airport for Fortaleza Airport City, a development of over 80 hectares. Along with a logistics center planned facilities included two hotels with independent access to the airport, shopping mall and supermarket. A graphic published with the announcement shows logistics warehouses, big box retail, a hotel and commercial center.
For more information including references for all source material, photos and videos see the case study on EJAtlas, the world’s largest, most comprehensive online database of social conflict around environmental issues – Deforestation around Fortaleza Airport, Brazil
Many local and diaspora organisations are opposing Esencia, a luxury tourism and residential megaproject with a private airport, in Cabo Rojo. The development has been granted generous tax credits and would require vast volumes of water.
In May 2024 two real estate firms, Reuben Brothers and Three Rules Capital, filed a master plan for Esencia, a USD2billion development in Boquerón Bay, Cabo Rojo on the west coast of Puerto Rico. Anchored by international hotel operators Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Aman Group and Rosewood Hotels and Resorts and containing up to 500 luxury hotel rooms and 900 tourist residences the complex would have a private airport. The Esencia website says the new ‘residential and hospitality community’ will have 3 miles (4.8km) of ‘pristine beachfront’. Plans also included two golf courses, spa, wellnesses centre, health clubs, equestrian centre, hiking and biking trails and a school.
The proposed Esencia plan, with sea views and a private airport, includes luxury hotels and residences and two golf courses. Image source: Reuben Brothers
The Esencia project was granted more than USD497 million in tax credits and in August 2024 four new tax exemptions of between 90 and 100 per cent were approved. A new decree granting 100 per cent fuel tax exemption for tourism-related activities was criticised for incentivising high levels of fossil fuel usage. Comité por la Verdadera Esencia del Suroeste sent statements to multimedia platform Marea Ecologista concerning the proximity of the project site to protected ecologically sensitive areas providing habitats for endangered birds such as the Puerto Rican nightjar. Responding to the absence of public hearings on permits and boundary demarcation for the Esencia project a town hall was convened by local community, environmental and cultural groups on 28th September 2024 where further detail of Esencia project components, including shopping malls and renovation of an airstrip to accommodate small aircraft, was shared.
The land within the site is rural and falls under two classifications. One category is rural land protected because of its ecological importance as it is located between two nature reserves and serves as a corridor for many species and also for its recreational value. The second category is rural land where there is more flexibility regarding development and in recent years mechanisms to evade compliance with the land use plan have been deployed such as declaring projects to be strategic or of critical importance. The project area contains at least 24 archaeological sites from the colonial and pre-colonial eras, many of which have not yet been explored.
On the first day of public hearings in March 2025 Cabo Rojo’s streets were filled with protesters holding posters and banners, many declaring ‘No to Esencia’ and calling the project an enclave for a small number of billionaires. The hall was not big enough to accommodate all the people opposing the project so many watched the proceedings on a screen in a tent outside. Puerto Rican groups opposing the project joined forces under the slogans ‘Defend Cabo Rojo’ and ‘No to Esencia’. The anti-Esencia movement gained support from Puerto Rican diaspora and pro-independence organisations, amplifying locals’ calls for cancellation of the project and holding protests throughout New York. For example, protesters occupied the lobby of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and unfurled banners in the luxurious Columbus Circle shopping mall.
Officials said the project’s environmental impact statement (EIS) did not address the impacts on infrastructure and ecosystems and lacked hydrological studies. Esencia would place additional strain on water supplies, consuming more than 1.25 million gallons per day, a volume equal to more than a third of current consumption in the Cabo Rojo Municipality. This is a low estimate as it does not include the project proposal’s two golf courses which would increase the volume of water consumed per day to 2 million gallons. The development would require extraction from aquifers or connection to the existing drinking water system but neither of these options are feasible. Local fishers expressed concerns over the risk of damage to oyster beds and disruption of freshwater and saltwater flows that are essential to the health of the estuarine environment.
Many of the properties purchased for the Esencia project are shown in orange, agricultural land purchased in August 2025 is shown to the right. El Nuevo Día, 20/09/2025
By September 2025 project investors had spent approximately USD147 million on properties for Esencia and were on track to acquire the target of 809 hectares of land. Recent land parcel purchases were part of the Reserva Agrícola del Valle de Lajas (Lajas Valley Agricultural Reserve) and an airstrip. On 12th September the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNRA) published a 29-page report firmly reiterating its opposition to the Esencia project and concluding that the plans did not comply with environmental laws. Significant findings included fragmentation of habitats hosting endangered bird species, severe impacts on Catesbaea melanocarpa, a rare, endangered lily and threats to the habitat of Anolis poncensis, a rare lizard species. The project’s so-called ‘ecological corridors’ lacked the connectivity of existing ecosystems and golf courses, artificial ponds and landscaping claimed to be mitigations would be part of the project’s negative impacts.
For more information including references for all source material and photos see the case study on EJAtlas, the world’s largest, most comprehensive online database of social conflict around environmental issues – Esencia project, Puerto Rico
Construction of the Great Transfiguration Project – a mega tourism development n the St. Catherine areacomprising luxury hotels, villas, chalets, visitors centre, shopping bazaars, housing and roads –is linked to expansion of St. Catherine Airport.
Great Transfiguration Project (GTP) area, Egypt. Aerial imagery: 2nd July 2023
The Great Transfiguration Project (GTP), a mega tourism development project including hotels, villas, chalets, private housing, shopping bazaars, other facilities and roads in and around the St. Catherine area – a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site which includes St. Catherine’s Monastery and Mount Sinai – was announced by the Egyptian government in March 2021. Within weeks demolitions and construction works by private companies began. An August 2022 statement by the Egyptian Human Rights Forum (EHRF) detailed the project components, situation on the ground, impacts on and response from local communities and NGOs and comments from experts. Many contributors confirmed that GTP implementation had already caused serious, irreversible damage of nature, ecosystems, heritage and negative impacts on local people. EHRF’s statement said authorities had not included the local Jebeleya Bedouin tribe or the wider local community and that local organisations, community representatives, experts and representatives of St. Catherine’s Monastery (one of the oldest continuously inhabited monasteries in the world) and its inhabitants had not been consulted. A St. Catherine’s expert said homes were being demolished without compensation, part of the mosque had been demolished and the cemetery dug up. An eyewitness said many old olive and pistachio trees had been removed and some locals had worked together to replant them in different gardens. Construction of a 70km highway connecting St. Catherine with Al-Tur, on the Gulf of Suez, raised concerns over the environmental impacts. An expert on St. Catherine’s natural environment said, “This highway destroys an area designated by Egypt’s government as a nature protectorate, it cuts through the protected area and splits it in two, causing environmental ruin.”
In March 2022 a Middle East Eye correspondent gathered testimony from several local people concerned about the impacts of the GTP. One resident spoke of concern for the future of the heritage site, saying, “What is sold to us as development is in fact ruining this ancient and beautiful city.” A tourism worker, one of several people commenting on social media and posting photos of demolished buildings, said, “The view to most of the ancient sites of the city will be blockade by the concrete buildings now constructed in it”. One resident spoke of bulldozers tearing down important buildings, replacing them with blocks of concrete. Another resident said, “We wake up every day to discover that some buildings have been demolished and other made of cement constructed instead of them.” Mada Masr reported that two anonymous sources said the government began implementation of the project before submitting environmental impact assessments. A resident raised concerns over the project’s water consumption in a city reliant on wells and tanker trucks from Al-Tur saying, “Where will you get water for those employed in hotels, chalets and homes? They’re building swimming pools while people still wait for the water trucks once a week.” Accommodation built for relocation of residents, apartments in multi-storey buildings, some of which were already housing displaced residents, were very different from Bedouin’s traditional single-floor dwellings with gardens. One resident said, “These do not look like our homes nor do they align with our customs. We would not know how to live comfortably. But when they relocate us, we will have no other choice.”
Concluding a 10th March 2024 inspection tour in St. Catherine to assess the development projects Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli said the GTP would be Egypt’s gift to the entire world. He said the state had made significant efforts to implement the project, beginning with development of St. Catherine International Airport, located 20km northeast of the city, into an international airport. A World Heritage Watch press release entitled ‘Mount Sinai: A Sacred Landscape Disfigured by a Megatourism Project’, issued on 18th December 2024 stated, “A new urban world is being built around a people of nomadic heritage,” It stated that the site surrounding St. Catherine’s monastery had been transformed. Landscapes had been damaged, the rights of indigenous people violated, houses demolished, important cultural sites destroyed and Bedouins had lost tribal territories. Heritage groups around the world had raised the alarm about the scale of commercial and infrastructure development in St. Catherine. Fourteen plots of land confiscated from the monastery by the Court of Appeals included agricultural land, gardens and buildings protected as antiquities including Saint Panteleimon Church on Mount Sinai which dates back to the 6th-7th centuries. In 2023, UNESCO had asked the Egyptian government to halt further development projects, evaluate the impacts and prepare a conservation plan for the area. The requests were ignored and construction of concrete buildings including luxury hotels, new roads and development of St. Catherine’s Airport into an international facility with a 3km runway, enlarged terminal and VIP lounge continued. Speaking to New Lines Magazine in June 2025 an anonymous resident said, “the fate of personal property that falls in the way of this construction remains unclear. Assurances and fake promises change day by day.” An anonymous expert said Jebeleya people’s homes were being demolished with no compensation. The aforementioned bulldozed cemetery had been paved over to create a parking lot. Plans for 700 new housing units caused worries that Bedouins might be displaced. An anonymous expert said, “Many fear they could be compensated with an apartment, which does not suit their way of life. They need outdoor space – for their livestock and to plant.”
For more information including references for all source material see the case study on EJAtlas, the world’s largest, most comprehensive online database of social conflict around environmental issues – Great Transfiguration Project, Egypt
Guwahati Airport and the villages of Azara, Garal and Mirzapur. Satellite imagery: 03/04/2024
A land acquisition notice for a proposed Aerotropolis near Guwahati Airport – the primary airport of northeast India located in the west of Assams’ largest city and also known as Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (LGBI) – met with anxiety, anger and opposition from many affected residents. Issued on 25th July 2025 by the Kamrup Metropolitan District Administration the notice encompassed 400 bighas (101 hectares) of inhabited and uninhabited land in the villages of Azara, Garal and Mirzapur and impact upon more than a thousand families. Many villagers had given land for construction of Guwahati Airport decades ago and feared loss of their homes and livelihoods. An Azara resident said, “We have already given away vast stretches of land. Now this fresh move will leave many of us homeless.” In Garal village, where the district administration moved to acquire 70 bighas (17.7 hectares) of land for the Aerotropolis project, over 100 pattadars (landholders) were named in the land acquisition notice. Critics of the project claimed the land acquisition process lacked transparency, consultation or a clear plan to rehabilitate affected people and that the main beneficiary would be a private company. Guwahati Airport is owned by Adani, one of India’s largest multinational conglomerates. A local committee member said, “Guwahati Airport is now under Adani’s ownership. So the land being acquired in the name of an airport township will ultimately go to Adani.”
Affected families began to protest the land acquisition process, demanding transparency, a thorough impact assessment and guarantees that they would be rehabilitated. “We are not against development”, said an affected farmer, “But we deserve clarity, transparency and fair compensation. Right now everything feels juggled up and a lot is hidden from the public.” Protests took place in many affected areas. Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia described the move to acquire land for the ‘Aerocity‘ as anti-indigenous and serving corporate interests. He said more than 1,116 families were affected, some of which had held land titles for nearly 200 years. He also warned that, in addition to the families facing displacement, local entrepreneurs in the area running guesthouses and restaurants would be adversely impacted. The location of the project site, near the Deepor Beel freshwater lake, a Ramsar site (designated as of international importance under the Ramsar Convention) raised environmental concerns.
Land acquisition for the aerotropolis had been requested by the managing director of the Assam Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC). Akan Chandra Das, president of Mirzapur Anchalik Bhumi Suraksha Samiti, the committee representing affected residents of Mirzapur, Azara and Garal villages, said, “Already nine to ten times, our families gave land to the government post-independence, for development of the airport, adjacent roads, and defence establishments near the Guwahati airport. If the remaining land is also taken for development projects, where will we go? How will our children survive if they don’t get jobs in other sectors?” Basudev Mali, a retired teacher and owner of 10 bighas (2.53 hectares) of land near the airport, in Mirzapur, said, “If the government continues to take over our lands for airport expansion or for aerotropolis development now, who will ensure the survival of our children? The remaining farmlands were our only hope, but the government wants to take that also.”
A residents’ delegation met with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Samra, but his attempts to reassure them that only vacant land would be used, for public projects were unsuccessful. Locals remained reluctant to give up their land for either government or private projects. Villagers attending a public meeting in Mirzapur unanimously resolved not to give their land to the government under any circumstances, declaring, “Our land is our identity and livelihood. We will not give it away at any cost.” At the beginning of September 2025 the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) suspended building permits and land sales in the proposed aerotropolis area around Guwahati Airport. Additional restrictions were also imposed. The suspension affected Azara, Garal and Mirzapur villages where hundreds of indigenous families were unwilling to vacate their land for the aerotropolis project. They also opposed the notice issued by GMDA as it restricted their rights as landowners.
A new international airport under construction in the Pedernales province in the southwest of the Dominican Republic, for commercial and private flights, is integral to development of a high-end coastal tourism complex.
Cabo Rojo International Airport construction site. Satellite image 09/09/2024
In January 2024 the government of the Dominican Republic announced construction of a new international airport in the Pedernales province in the southwest of the country. The site is in the Manuel Goya community, part of the Oviedo municipality. A Spanish firm, Acciona Construction SA, was awarded the contract to build Cabo Rojo International Airport, even though its bid was the most expensive. The RD$3,961 million (€62 million) contract, awarded in June 2024, included construction of a 3.1 kilometre runway, taxiway, aprons for Boeing 777 aircraft (the world’s largest twin-jet aircraft accommodating up to 368 passengers) and drainage works. The new airport will serve luxury tourism and private aircraft (private jets). Director of the Airport Department, Víctor Pichardo, highlighted the new airport’s potential to transform tourism in Pedernales by attracting both commercial flights and private aviation, noting that each year more than 40,000 private aircraft fly over the Carribean. He said the new airport would position the Dominican Republic as a hub for high-end tourism. Construction of the new Cabo Rojo Airport (also known as Pedernales Airport) is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2025; it is anticipated to handle up to 1 million passengers annually within 17 years, making it the third busiest airport in the country.
Artist rendering of development of planned luxury tourism development near the new Cabo Rojo International Airport and expansion of Port Cabo Rojo. Image: Dominican Today
The new Cabo Rojo International Airport, will form the basis for a new coastal tourism complex with 12,000 rooms located just 15 minutes away (about 25 km). The two locations are already connected by a major highway: DR Route 44. The tourism complex site is near the existing Cabo Rojo Domestic Airport, a civic/military airport currently receiving a few small aircraft, carrying 2-30 passengers, per week and serving operations of the Dominican Air Force. Tourists will also be delivered to new resorts via Port Cabo Rojo, which is expanding into a facility capable of receiving two large cruise ships carrying up to 15,000 visitors. Large volumes of fresh water will be diverted to the tourist area via a new aqueduct which will supply 8,000 tourism rooms. As of July 2024 the ProPedernales tourism development trust, a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with the government holding a 52% stake and the private sector holding 48%, reported a total investment of USD130 million on Cabo Rojo tourism, focused on the first three hotels and the airport runway. In addition, the Dominican Government had spent nearly USD30 million on water projects, site conditioning, planning and design to prepare for and support the initiative.
Six major international hotel chains, ‘a who’s who of luxury and all-inclusive resorts’, are building new properties in Cabo Rojo: Hilton, Marriott International, therostar Group, Karisma Hotels & Resorts, Amresorts (part of World of Hyatt) and Sunwing. Luxury tourism development just 15 kilometres away from the border with Haiti, gripped by gang violence and a humanitarian crisis, might seem incongruous. But the Dominican Republic has reinforced the border with Haiti with more than 13,000 troops and the first phase of a high-tech ‘smart’ border wall with drone patrols, surveillance towers and night vision cameras is nearing completion. The exclusivity and high security requirements of luxury tourism can go hand in hand with militarisation; the established Cabo Rojo Airport nearby already serves the Dominican Air Force.
At a June 2025 National System of Protected Areas (SNAP) conference a number of environmental experts stressed the importance of responsible tourism development in Cabo Rojo, avoiding repeating the mistakes of some other Dominican tourist destinations by protecting the region’s ecology and directly benefitting local communities. But problems have been reported in the earliest stages of Cabo Rojo’s tourism development. In August 2024 environmental organisation Grupo Jaragua said the project was proceeding without clear compensation plans for affected residents of the Oviedo municipality, where the airport is being constructed. A community leader reported that tractors had destroyed land. Two months later a truck drivers’ union took strike action protesting non-payment for tranport of fill materials used for airport construction, saying the amount being paid per kilometre was not even sufficient to cover their fuel costs. The government is providing a high level of financial and infrastructural support to tourism and airport megaprojects that will primarily benefit airlines, major international hotel chains and cruise ship lines, not local businesses, and only wealthy visitors will be able to afford to stay in the luxury hotels. And the new high-end tourism complex may well boost the number of private aircraft flights, only affordable to a small number of very wealthy people, at Cabo Rojo Domestic Airport.
Vlora Airport, opposed by many environmental organisations, has received a high level of government support and will serve luxury tourism developments.
Map of southern Albanian coast showing Vlora Airport, Sazan Island and Zvërnec peninsula. Satellite imagery: 29/08/2023
Vlora Airport, a major construction project nearing completion in the Vjosa-Narta Protected Landscape on the South Albanian coast, has been opposed by many environmental organizations, including Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA) and EuroNatur, since it received parliamentary approval in February 2018. The project site is near Narta Lagoon, a habitat for many iconic bird species such as flamingos and the endangered Dalmatian pelican. The wider Vjosa Delta area, a complex of wetlands, marshlands, woodlands, reedbeds and sandy beaches, is vital for bird migration routes. A March 2021 letter from a coalition of NGOs to members of the European Commission and Parliament, calling for support in urging the Albanian government to respect national laws and international conventions it has ratified, and to reconsider plans for the airport, was signed by 41 organizations. In the same month it was announced that Mabco Constructions had been awarded the tender for constructing Vlora Airport.
On 7th May 2025, the day before the first test flight landed on the Vlora Airport runway, environmental activists, including representatives of PPNEA and citizens, protested in front of the Supreme Court. For over a year the court had not made a decision on returning a case against construction of Vlora Airport to the Court of Appeal; the lawsuit had been filed on 23rd November 2022. Protesters said the Supreme Court had deliberately delayed the legal process in order to facilitate completion of Vlora Airport. The first plane to land at Vlora Airport, on 8th May 2025, was the private plane of Behgjet Pacolli, owner of Mabco Constructions, the majority shareholder of the consortium constructing the airport. EuroNatur dismissed the test flight, showcasing Vlora Airport just three days before parliamentary elections, as a “big PR show”. The airport was not yet fully operational, neither the runway nor the terminal had been completed. Alexander Trajce, PPNEA Executive Director, said, “While the government is flying-high with the propaganda for the airport, what’s actually happening on the ground involves a rushed and chaotic development built inside a protected area, a myriad of safety concerns both during construction and for future operations.”
Construction fatality and investigation into possible corruption
Just 19 days before the test flight an accident a construction accident resulted in a fatal injury. A 38-year-old worker at the Vlora Airport site died on 19th April 2025 after falling from a height. Two construction company employees were arrested on suspicion of violation of workplace safety regulations. Construction of Vlora Airport has also triggered investigation into possible corruption. The Special Prosecution Office against corruption and Organised Crime (SPAK) announced the investigation in early July 2025, stating, “The Special Prosecution Office against Corruption and Organized Crime has registered criminal proceedings regarding the Vlora Airport concession contract. This proceeding is in the preliminary investigation phase.” SPAK is investigating the details of the agreement between Mabco Constructions owner Behgjet Pacolli and the Albanian government and the contract for Vlora Airport construction.
An unprotected delta and Law 21/2024
Conservationists had been hopeful that the government’s creation of Vjose Wild River National Park in 2023 would protect the Vjosa Delta from further destructive development. But the designation only covers the river and streams, not the delta which remains a target for commercial development, with only limited protection subject to Prime Ministerial veto. As airport construction continued, near Narta Lagoon at the heart of the delta, Zydjon Vorpsi of PPNEA warned that while the lagoon may still exist as a water body there will be serious hydrological impacts and aircraft noise and bright lights will disorientate and frighten away birds and turtles. Vorpsi also said Vlora Airport would lead to other development that will “transform the area, resulting in complete urbanisation of the delta”. Development in areas surrounding Vlora Airport has been facilitated by Law 21/2024, a change to the law on protected areas that was rushed through the Albanian parliament in February 2024. Many environmentalists were critical of the new legislation as it enables existing laws to be swept aside to permit construction of upmarket, luxury, five-star, tourism resorts in unprotected areas of the delta. PPNEA, EuroNatur and other environmental and conservation groups said the new law conflicts with international conventions signed by the Albanian government, including the Bern Convention on the Conservation of Wildlife and Natural Habitats. In 2023 the convention’s Standing Committee urged the Albanian government to halt construction of Vlora Airport pending a thorough environmental impact assessment. Law 21/2024 was ratified by President Bajran Begaj only three days after plans for two luxury tourism developments in the delta area were announced by US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Luxury tourism proposals – Zvërnec peninsula and Sazan Island
The sites of both proposed tourism projects – the Zvërnec peninsula and Sazan Island – are within protected areas. The Zvërnec peninsula is part of the Pishë Poro-Nartë protected area and Sazan Island is in Karaburun-Sazan national marine park. The Zvërnec peninsula, to the south of Vlora Airport, is a promontory with pine forest and attractive beaches, connected by a wooden bridge to the remains of St. Mary’s, a 13th century Byzantine monastery on a small island in Narta Lagoon. Zvërnec would look very different if the tourism development goes ahead; a 445-hectare luxury resort is envisaged hosting about 6,000 hotel rooms and villas. Architectural renderings of the project published by Kushner’s Miami-based investment company, Affinity Partners, show rows of modern, multi-storey buildings alongside Narta Lagoon and on the dunes, headlands and beaches, a commercial centre, swimming pools, marinas, yachts and a cruise ship.
Plans for a 567-hectare development on Sazan Island are equally high-end. Nearly 10 kilometres west of Narta Lagoon, Sazan is currently uninhabited and one of only a few undeveloped islands in the Mediterranea. Interest in the remains of a heavily fortified military base have made Sazan Island into a tourist attraction; in summertime several ships and dozens of boats provide day trips. The island has a subtropical climate and highly biodiverse vegetation including ash, hornbeam, maritime pine and holm oak trees along with rare ferns. Marzio Mian asked Asher Abehsera, a real estate executive overseeing the Affinity Partners projects, whether the Sazan Island would still be accessible to local people. He replied, “I think everyone should have the opportunity to visit the island”. Kushner’s response seemed more indicative of plans for an exclusive enclave, “We’re creating a very high-end luxury product … One of the most compelling points about the island is just the ability to have privacy … But I also think there are certain aspects of the island we can build out that will give people the opportunity to come visit and enjoy some of the food and the trails.”
Strategic investor status for Sazan Island project
The Albanian government approved Kushner’s request to develop Sazan Island in January 2025 when it granted the project strategic investor status. The government announcement reads: “The projected investment of Sazan Island Touristic Resort of 1.4 billion euros fulfils the criteria foreseen in the legislation on strategic investments.” The project also met the criteria relating to employment, anticipated to be 1,000 people during the construction and operational phases. Strategic investor status will grant Affinity Partners zero taxes in the construction phase and the government will provide all the requisite infrastructure including electricity, water and sewage. Director of EcoAlbania, Olsi Nika, a marine biologist voiced concerns about beaches and waters protected by the Karaburun-Sazan maritime national park designation, saying, “What will large public works, the building of docks, yacht traffic and sewage run-off do to the place?”
Albania’s luxury tourism strategy
Vlora Airport and Affinity Partners’ proposed tourism developments are important components of Prime Minister Edi Rama’s campaign to transform Albania into a “champion of tourism”. PPNEA’s Zydjon Vorpsi said this would come at a huge ecological cost including to birdlife and cast doubt on the purported economic benefits. An influx of visitors to seasonal resorts in summer would place a strain on local infrastructure, leaving empty “ghost towns” in the winter. He also said it was likely that most of the tourism revenue would accrue to the firms owning the developments, not to the local community. Kushner has welcomed the government’s support for Affinity Partners’ luxury tourism projects and development of Vlora Airport. Writing in The Guardian, Marzio Mian recalled a conversation in which Kushner described Rama as a “great partner” and said of the government, “They’re building an airport right there”. Noting that in 2024 almost 12 million foreign visitors, a 15 per cent increase compared to the previous year, had travelled to Albania, Mirela Kumbaro, minister for tourism and the environment, said the number was too high, “too many for us, and too much pollution”. Kumbaro said, “Sazan is the way to go. The ideal recipe: nature and luxury tourism.” The Albanian government is extending a great deal of support to elite tourism which will benefit a small number of wealthy visitors. And the focus on developing exclusive resorts in the undeveloped southern coast appears to be at odds with the scale of Vlora Airport. The 3.2 kilometre runway is the longest in the Balkans and Vlora Airport is expected to become the second-largest in Albania with an initial capacity for 2 million passengers per year, expanding to accommodate ten million within a decade.
Hundreds of people were displaced by a demolition exercise to make way for expansion of Muhammadu Buhari International Airport
On 30th January 2025 a number of residents of Shuwari 5 ward in Maiduguri, near the Muhammadu Buhari International Airport runway, reported that the Borno State Government was demolishing their houses. A bulldozer destroyed houses while residents retrieved essential household items. People whose houses were still standing but had been marked for demolition worked to remove roofs from their houses. One resident said people had received only three days’ notice before their homes were demolished and appealed to the Borno State Governor to provide compensation or alternative shelter for affected residents as they had no other place to go to.
Aerial imagery of the Shuwari 5 area near the end of Muhammadu Buhari International Airport runway before and after the demolition exercise beginning on 30th January 2025 shows buildings reduced to rubble.
On a visit to Borno State in October 2024 Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, had announced that Muhammadu Buhari Airport had been upgraded to international status and would commence operation as an international airport from 1st January 2025. The General Manager of Borno State Urban Planning Development Board, Liman Mustapha, said the purpose of the demolition exercise beginning on 30th January 2025 was to secure land for upgrade of the airport. He also said there would be no compensation for affected house owners and that residents had been informed that their occupation of the land was illegal in 2020 and since then authorities had attempted, unsuccessfully, to stop construction of houses on the land.
The demolition exercise targeted the area up to 500 metres from the airport fence, beginning with the area within 200 metres. Adamu Matankolo, Acting Regional Manager of the airport, said upgrade of the airport to international status by the federal government necessitated its expansion. He said, “We sympathise with the people who don’t want to obey this order. We have our plan and out plan is that the area slated for demolition is a buffer zone.”
Premium Times reported that more than 100 houses were demolished and many of the affected people had occupied the area for over 10 years having been displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency. The IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) thought their resettlement was permanent until the state government demolished their houses. An IDP and single mother of three children said residents received a notice from the Borno State Geographical Information Service (BOGIS) just a few hours before the demolition exercise began.
Many people criticised the State government’s handling of the demolition exercise on social media, in the context of the Borno state’s socio-economic problems caused by the Boko Haram insurgency and a recent flood impacting 40% of the city of Maiduguri. Commenting anonymously a Maiduguri-based lawyer gave a detailed statement on the government’s obligations regarding compensation, concluding: “Thus, if a house is built on government land without approval, the owner is generally not entitled to compensation. However, if the government initially allowed of overlooked the development, there is scope for negotiation or legal redress.”
HumAngle, a media platform focussed on conflict, humanitarian, and development issues in Africa, reported that the demolition had displaced hundreds of people. One of them, a widow raising four children who had lived in Shuwari 5 for 17 years, said the government only notified people about the demolition two days before bulldozers arrived, not even giving enough time for gathering belongings. She said at least three affected people had died of shock and more than 20 had fallen ill due to trauma.
Liman Gana, head of Borno State Building Planning Authority, said 306 structures had been demolished, including 64 fully occupied houses, 42 incomplete structures and 17 incomplete buildings. A Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) official gave technical and safety reasons for the demolition exercise, saying structures built too close to the runway posed safety risks. Many displaced residents insisted that they were not informed of these risks before they bought or built their homes and said resettlement should have been planned and implemented before the demolitions took place.
Up to 70,000 climate refugees face displacement to make way for Cox’s Bazar Airport and Air Force Base expansion and more than 20,000 could be ineligible for replacement flats in the Khurushkul Ashrayan Project. On 7th January 2025 thousands of people protested against eviction.
Map of Cox’s Bazar Airport, Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) base and Khurushkul Ashrayan Project. Satellite imagery 25th March 2025
Since 1981 climate refugees – people displaced by cyclones, river erosion and tidal surges from many of Bangladesh’s coastal areas – have resettled in Ward 1, Cox’s Bazar Municipality. The area is government-owned ‘khas’ land between the Bay of Bengal and Cox’s Bazar Airport and the adjoining Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) base. The largest influx of climate refugees occurred in the aftermath of a cyclone and tidal wave on 29th April 1991 when about 40,000 people displaced from Kutubdia Island settled in the area. In February 2011 several local leaders demanded cancellation of a project to expand Cox’s Bazar Airport. Officials had moved to acquire 16 areas in Ward 1 – including Kutubdiapara, Samitypara, Fadnerdail, Bandarpara and Naziraratek – and 40,000 people would become homeless. In 2012 the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) began a project to extend Cox’s Bazar Airport runway. In 2021 an agreement for another runway extension, lengthening it northwards into the Maheshkhali Channel through land reclamation, was signed.
Climate refugees face eviction
An in-depth investigation of the climate refugees from Kutubdia Island who had settled in Ward 1 was published in December 2024. They were still vulnerable to extreme weather; storms would leave many homes flooded with seawater and the area lacked cyclone shelters. Neither Cox’s Bazar Municipality nor the Chittagong District had precise data on the number of people living in Ward 1 but Akter Kamal, elected three times to represent Ward 1 and now a former councillor, said at least 52,000 people resided there. The investigation found that ‘Every household in the climate refugee camp lives inconstant fear of eviction. All the khas land in the area has been acquired for the expansion of Cox’s Bazar Airport’s runway and the construction of an air force base’.
Resettlement in the Khurushkal Ashrayan Project
The Khurushkal Ashrayan Project, located 3 kilometres east of Cox’s Bazar Airport, was described as ‘the world’s biggest climate refugee rehabilitation project’ when the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the first phase, housing 600 families, on 23rd July 2020. It was stated that upon completion 139 five-storey blocks would rehabilitate 4,409 families, the majority living in the Cox’s Bazar Airport area since being displaced by the 1991 cyclone. By December 2024 another 85 buildings had been completed which would accommodate 2,270 families. But former councillor Akter Kamal said that at least 20,000 climate refugees living in Ward 1 were ineligible for flats. Changes to the list of project beneficiaries had caused anxiety to between 20,000 and 22,000 climate refugees who were excluded from the resettlement plan.
Thousands protest eviction plan
On 7th January 2025 thousands of climate refugees, including residents of Samitypara and Kutubdiapara, held a protest demanding cancellation of the eviction plan linked to Cox’s Bazar Airport expansion. Demonstrators blocked roads causing traffic disruption with several thousand people blocking the main city road for 2½ hours, protesting eviction and calling for long-term settlement and holding a rally in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office. They had lived in their settlements in Ward 1 for 20-30 years but instead of rehabilitating them plans were being made to evict them. Former councillor Akter Kamal told Prothom Alo that between 60,000 and 70,000 climate refugees were living in the area and land had been acquired for Cox’s Bazar Airport runway expansion and air force base construction. He estimated the number of families not entitled to flats in the Khurushkal housing project as approximately 4,000. Protestors said they would bring the city to a standstill if the government did not reverse its decision to evict them.
Clash between locals and BAF personnel
On 24th February 2025 Shihab Kabir Nahid, a 30-year-old local trader, was killed in a clash between locals and BAF presonnel. His mother said he was standing in the doorway of their house and died after being shot in the head. The Inter Services Public Relation Directorate (ISPR) stated that Cox’s Bazar Air Base had come under a “sudden attack” by unidentified people from the neighbouring Samitypara area. But local residents alleged that the clash was triggered by altercations over BAF’s attempts to acquire land and relocate residents for expansion of Cox’s Bazar Airport and the air base. A Samitypara resident said the clash began as local representatives were on their way to a scheduled meeting with BAF officials about relocation for airport expansion. The Borderlens published an account of the violent incident and the circumstances leading up to it. Climate refugees in Ward 1 had lived in fear for many years, their homes on land earmarked for air base expansion and denied land ownership rights or resettlement. In recent months the eviction drive for air base expansion had intensified. Families’ appeals to the district administration went unanswered and BAF personnel were making threats. Gunfire began after a scuffle and social media footage showed air force personnel firing at unarmed protesters throwing bricks and stones.
Runway expansion impacts on waterway navigability
By March 2025 the runway expansion was 84% complete and aircraft navigation aid lights had been installed on concrete piles extending across the mouth of the Maheshkhali Channel. On multiple occasions the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) had raised concerns about lack of approvals, consultation and surveys pertaining to the risk of loss of navigability for waterway traffic, but the warnings had been ignored. A report by a committee of experts stated that the pillars in the river obstructed water flow and caused accumulation of sediment at the base of the pillars, narrowing the mouth of the Maheshkhali Channel and reducing navigability. An alternative channel that had been dug out was expanding westwards, posing risks to residents of Sonadia Island. The BIWTA report warned that sediment build-up could affect water routes along the coast from Chattogram to Cox’s Bazar along with the southward route to Saint Martin’s. The report recommended removal of the piling in the Maheshkhali Channel.
For more information, including references for source material, see the case study on EJAtlas, the world’s largest, most comprehensive online database of social conflict around environmental issues – Cox’s Bazar Airport and Air Force Base expansion
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