Colombia: About 250 families face displacement for construction of Aerocafé Airport

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Aerocafe Airport
Rendering of Aerocafé Airport, now under construction in Palestina, Caldas. Image source: CPG Click Oil and Gas

Construction of Aerocafé Airport, in the municipality of Palestina in the south central region of the state of Caldas, part of Colombia’s coffee cultivating region known as the Coffee Triangle or Coffee Axis, is underway, The showcase infrastructure project is promoted as an engine for regional growth, anticipated to enable a 12 per cent increase in nature, adventure, cultural and gastronomic tourism. Exports including coffee, textiles and household appliances are envisaged. Yet Palestina residents in the affected area complain of uncertainty, displacement and disputes over compensation. In addition to economic concerns over resettlement the airport project has begun to impact on people’s local networks and sense of belonging. Authorities claim that the project complies with compensation and resettlement procedures. Construction of Aerocafé Airport, among the most complex and expensive in the history of the Caldas Department, is having major impacts on people occupying the area designated for the project. Land is being prepared for construction works and machinery moved in, directly affecting approximately 250 families living near the area earmarked for the runway and other structures. Entire communities will have to vacate their homes, rural property and small businesses. The Department of Caldas, Ministry of Transport and Civil Aeronautics of Colombia stated that affected residents should relocate to a planned neighbourhood providing equivalent or superior housing, with temporary compensation during the resettlement process. But this process necessitates environmental licenses, technical requirements and public hearings that are not yet completed.

These negative impacts on communities directly affected by construction are not what was promoted by the UK Government Prosperity Fund. In 2020 this scheme (a £25.5 million programme running from 2017 to 2022) provided USD1,265,000 for design studies for ‘Aerocafé, An Airport That Champions Economic Inclusion and Gender Equity’, claiming it would incorporate best practices exemplifying the principles of gender equity and social inclusion along with adherence to environmental standards. British Ambassador to Colombia, Colin Martin-Reynolds said, “This project will have a considerable impact on the economic development and livelihoods of communities in Caldas and the entire coffee producing region.” Manager of the Aeropuerto del Café Association, Amparo Sánchez Londoño, emphasised the strategic significance of the airport and foreign investment, saying, “thanks to this international cooperation, we have consultants with extensive experience in the airport sector, adding value to the design of the most important infrastructure project for the economic revival of the region.” Recent news on construction works raises serious concerns that Aerocafé Airport is failing to foster inclusive economic development for directly affected communities, or to support their livelihoods.

Plans for the Aerocafé Airport, originally named ‘Coffee Airport’, first emerged in 1977 but the project met with lengthy delays due to funding and administrative issues combined with engineering difficulties of constructing an airport on steeply sloping, unstable terrain. The site is on a plateau 1,600 metres above sea level which, following cut and grading works, could accommodate a runway more than 3 kilometres in length. In August 2021, during preparation of the site including grading (levelling the site), confirmation of sites for disposal of surplus materials and drainage works, the Civil Aeronautics of Colombia estimated that 5.8 million cubic metres of earth would need to be moved. In October 2024, 47 years after it was first mooted, the megaproject was revived when Aerocafé received a finance guarantee from the Colombian government, which meant that contracting for a further stage of construction works could commence. The investment for first phase of the project, with a 1,460 metre runway, taxiway, hangars, apron and a 6,000 square metre terminal with capacity for 1 million passengers per annum, is 828,423 million Colombian pesos (approximately USD197 million). The finance guarantee from the Ministry of Finance complemented funding from the Federal Government and Caldas State.

Zimbabwe: More than 7,000 people forcibly evicted from Willdale Farm

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Forcible eviction of informal settlements from Willdale Farm, to make way for residential units, an industrial park and to support expansion of Charles Prince Airport, led to a humanitarian crisis. Over 7,000 people were left stranded by the roadside without shelter, food, water or sanitation.

WIlldale Farm and Charles Prince Airport
Willdale Farm and Charles Prince Airport. Aerial imagery: 7th March 2025

In September 2025 more than 7,000 families residing on Willdale Farm, in the Mount Hampden area northwest of Harare, on land used for extracting clay for brick manifacturing, were served with eviction orders. Addressing the thousands of affected residents on 28th September Zimba East MP Kudakwashe Mananzva made reassurances that the government was committed to resettling all affected families and nobody would be rendered homeless. But people threatened with eviction complained that the landowner, brickmaking firm Willdale, was exerting pressure to force them to leave. On 29th November Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) reported that forced eviction had ’created an urgent protection crisis’. Evicted people had been left without shelter in heavy rains raising serious human rights concerns including rights to adequate housing and protection from inhumane treatment. On 2nd December New Zimbabwe reported that the ‘humanitarian crisis at Willdale Farm has deepened’; more than 7,000 residents had been evicted and were camped alongside the Harare-Chinhoyi highway to the south of Willdale Farm. The Department of Civil Protection acknowledged the scale of the eviction and said a temporary relocation site had been identified, about 14km northwest of Willdale Farm in Nyabira. State of the Nation reported widespread concerns over a ’humanitarian crisis’ affecting a vulnerable population including children and elderly people.

Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) expressed serious concerns over the Willdale Farm mass eviction, flagging legal failings. On a 29th November site visit chairperson Jessie Majome saw hundreds of evicted people camped out along the road in the open air without water, sanitation or water. A 2nd December follow-up visit by the ZHRC secretariat confirmed that about 7,000 people including children, the elderly and disabled were still stranded. ZHRC said civil procedures had been violated, including the right to be heard, which might constitute a breach of constitutional rights pertaining to the right to a fair hearing and freedom from arbitrary eviction. ZHRC acknowledged efforts by the government to provide temporary alternative land in Nyabira but the relocation process was ‘extremely slow’, at this juncture nearly 8,000 people had been evicted but only 36 families had been relocated. A monitoring report by Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) highlighted the Willdale Farm eviction, with families granted less than one hour to leave their homes before bulldozers arrived, as one of the most serious incidences of 123 human rights violations recorded in November 2025.

On 8th December Willdale announced that it had gained vacant possession of the 123.6314 hectares of land that had been occupied by third parties and the appointed contractor began mobilising equipment for construction of the project, an industrial park to support an emerging new city and expansion of Charles Prince Airport, located to the south of Willdale Farm and currently used by light aircraft and flights schools, into a regional hub for trade and commerce. An agreement for expansion and upgrade of Charles Prince Airport, was established between Zimbabwe and China during President Mnangagwa’s visit in 2024. Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister Felix Mhona highlighted the land and space for development around Charles Prince Airport, saying, “Once completed, the airport will serve as an international airport”, mentioning the airport’s proximity to the new Cyber City and new parliament building, located northeast of Willdale Farm. The Airports Company of Zimbabwe (ACZ) December 2025 announcement of airport infrastructure projects for the following five years highlighted upgrade of Charles Prince Airport, estimated to cost USD1 billion and supporting the government drive to establish new business and administrative hubs in the Mount Hampden area.

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 – Willdale Farm mass eviction, Zimbabwe

Toulouse Airbus site expansion granted exemption from environmental law

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Airbus has been granted permission to pave over 18 hectares of land for expansion of its Toulouse aircraft manufacturing site

Artist’s rendering of 18 hectare expansion of Airbus aircraft manufacturing site Toulouse,
Artist’s rendering of 18 hectare expansion of Airbus aircraft manufacturing site in Toulouse. Image source: REC Architecture, La Tribune, 13/10/2025

Aircraft manufacturer Airbus’s main site, located next to Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in southern France, already covers 700 hectaes of land. In October 2025 Airbus announced that an additional 18 hectares of land will be developed to increase production of its A320 and A 321 aircraft. New storage hangars, fitting and painting halls and a new delivery centre will be constructed. This expansion would have been impossible without an exemption from the ‘net zero land take‘ provision of the Climate and Resilience Law, whereby metropolitan regions must half conversion of natural, agricultural and forest land for industrial infrastructure and housing between 2021 and 2031 in comparison to the previous decade. The Airbus expansion project benefits from permission for the state to grant exemptions for major projects designated as of significant public interest. In 2024 Airbus was granted permission to develop 54 hectares of natural, agricultural and forest areas by 2031.

There was some criticism of the government support and preferential treatment for the Airbus plant expansion. President of Friends of the Earth Midi-Pyrenees, Jean Olivier, disagreed with the claim that the project served the public interest, saying that, in addition to paving over more land, manufacturing of more planes was heading in the wrong direction and warred of increased nuisance for local residents. He also pointed out cessation of activities at a number of industrial sites in the region, suggesting the alternative of reusing these brownfield sites rather than developing greenfield sites. Haute-Garonne Green Party MP Christine Arrighi said reindustrialisation must not disregard environmental concerns and called for a halt to weakening environmental laws in the name of benefitting the economy and creating employment. At the time of the announcement, expansion works had already started at the Colomiers, Cornebarrieu and Lagardère areas of the Airbus Toulouse site. Airbus is also expanding its aircraft manufacturing sites in Germany, the USA and China.

DR Congo: Evictions and demolitions for Mbuji-Mayi Airport rehabilitation and expansion

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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 of Mbuji-Mayi Airport, 17th June 2023Aerial imagery of Mbuji-Mayi Airport, 19th May 2025
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

Vietnam: Clearing rice fields and relocating thousands of households for Gia Binh Airport

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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 image of Gia Binh Airport site, 26/04/3024Aerial image of Gia Binh Airport site, 17/07/2025
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.

Brazil: Forest around Fortaleza Airport felled for a logistics center

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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.

Fortaleza Airport, Aug 2024Fortaleza Airport, Sept 2025
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
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

Puerto Rico: Resisting Esencia, a luxury tourism and residential development with a private airport

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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.

Project Esencia proposed plan
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.

Properties in Cabo Rojo purchased for Esencia
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

By 3rd November 2025 a petition – STOP THE LUXURY MEGAPROJECT “ESENCIA” IN CABO ROJO, PUERTO RICO NOW – calling on the Puerto Rican government and its agencies to stop the permit granting process, protect the land, study submitted material and conduct a transparent investigation prioritizing affected communities and experts, had attracted 36,327 signatures: Detengan ahora el megaproyecto de lujo “Esencia” en Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico (STOP THE LUXURY MEGAPROJECT “ESENCIA” IN CABO ROJO, PUERTO RICO NOW)

Egypt: Tourism megaproject in St. Catherine displaces Bedouin people and damages ecosystems and heritage

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Construction of the Great Transfiguration Project – a mega tourism development n the St. Catherine area comprising luxury hotels, villas, chalets, visitors centre, shopping bazaars, housing and roads – is linked to expansion of St. Catherine Airport.

Great Transfiguration Project (GTP), Egypt
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

Residents of three villages oppose land acquisition for Guwahati Aerotropolis

Rose Bridger India , , , , , , , , , ,
Guwahati Airport and the villages of Azara, Garal and Mirzapur
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.

Cabo Rojo International Airport will serve a new luxury tourism complex and private jets

Rose Bridger Tourism , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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 site
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.

Luxiry tourism development adjoining Cabo Rojo Airport
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.