Eco Fears Could Put Halt to Fergie’s Brazil Scheme

A LAVISH ‘playground for the rich’ planned for an unspoiled stretch of the Brazilian coastline with the help of the Duchess of York could be halted over environmental fears.

As revealed last week by The Mail on Sunday, Fergie is an adviser to the project’s equestrian centre on the 3,500-acre site that will also house a football academy headed by David Beckham.

The Duchess and the resort’s Norwegian tycoon developer – her friend Torben Frantzen – say the complex will bring prosperity to one of Brazil’s poorest areas.

But amid an environmentalist outcry, the region’s Public Ministry last night said it is investigating claims that the land is part of a Unesco reserve vital for a critically endangered turtle as well as rare birds and lizards. The Ministry is demanding a fresh report on how the fragile coast will be protected – or the scheme will be halted..

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