A row of infected words erupted about the future of the famous mountain peak. The ongoing construction of a 755-metre zip line has been met with fierce opposition from a group of city residents who have joined together in a protest movement.
– this is not true. It will tarnish a UNESCO World Heritage Site, says psychologist and climate activist Griselle Osorio Hor-Mel during a demonstration in Rio de Janeiro.
The possibility of sliding down the mountain attached to a cable is believed to attract large numbers of thrill-seeking tourists to the already well-visited attractions at the mouth of Guanabara Bay.
– It’s bad for the city and bad for the environment, says Hor Mill.
night parties
The company behind the project, Parque Bundinho, began work last year and plans to complete it by mid-2023. Four zip lines will connect Sugar Peak to nearby Urca Peak for what is being marketed as a “unique, environmentally sustainable experience.”
However, critics say the project risks harming the local environment and wildlife, which they say is already being negatively affected by helicopter flights for tourists and night parties on the mountain.
57-year-old protester Hans Rauschmayer says the company uses Sugarloaf “as if it were private property”.
– But in fact, it is a treasure that belongs to Rio, Brazil, the whole world.
“Do you kill the top of the mountain?”
The list of names against the project has collected more than 11,000 signatures. Activists are calling for a broader public discussion of the plans, which they warn are only “the tip of a giant iceberg”. A larger building project currently under review by the authorities includes shops, a concert arena and a nightclub on the mountain.
– It’s terrible, terrible. It would kill the mountaintop, protester Regina Costa de Paula said.
Tropical green Sugar Peak offers a wide panoramic view of Rio de Janeiro, the city’s famous beaches and the statue of Christ on Mount Corcovado. The park, which includes both Sockertoppen and Urca, attracts around 1.6 million visitors annually, many of whom reach the summit using a cable car that opened in 1912.
The famous coastal strip in Rio de Janeiro, with the statue of Christ in the foreground and the Sugar Loaf on the right in the photo. Photo from 2013. Photo: Renata Brito/AP/TT
File photo of a person riding a zipline. Photo: Graham Hughes/AP/TT
A zipline is a type of ropeway where the rider, secured with a harness and safety lines, descends, for example, a mountain sliding down a wire.
The largest slide park in Europe was opened in 2007 in Eure.
The longest zip line in Europe is in Klavreström in Småland, totaling over four kilometers of ropes through the forest. The longest single rope is 427 meters long.
The world’s longest single zip line can be found at Jebel Jais in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, according to Guinness World Records. It extends over a distance of 2.8 kilometers.
“Unapologetic writer. Bacon enthusiast. Introvert. Evil troublemaker. Friend of animals everywhere.”
More Stories
Republicans are asking to vote to remove their president
Stine Christophersen's case with Atendo is being tried in the High Court – Labour
Private wife's photos from billionaire's castle party | the world