Rio F1 racetrack plans add fuel to Brazil deforestation row

Most of city's last flatland area along with 180,000 trees would be destroyed if project goes ahead

Locals say anteaters, caimans, capybaras, and a 4-metre boa constrictor have all been seen near Rio de Janeiro's Camboata Forest recently. The 200-hectare (494-acre) forest is an island of wildlife in a city of 6.7 million people, and local prosecutors say it is home to 21 endangered species including black-backed tanager birds and the cloud-fish, a tiny orange creature whose eggs survive in dried-out water holes and hatch when the rains return.

But most of Rio's last flatland area of sub-tropical Atlantic Forest and its 180,000 trees will be demolished if plans go ahead to build a new Formula One racetrack over it.