Brazil Announces $75 Million Highway Investment and Environmental Plan

Brazil’s government announced Wednesday that it will invest $75 million in the BR-319 highway that cuts through the Amazon rainforest. The administration also unveiled an environmental protection plan to limit potential impacts from the project, which links the states of Amazonas and Rondonia with the rest of the country.

The BR-319 was inaugurated in 1976 but remains largely unpaved. It reaches Manaus, the Amazon’s largest city with more than 2 million residents, and runs alongside the Madeira River. Droughts on the river have disrupted cargo transport in recent years.

Officials displayed a video showing plans for environmental monitoring across a 50-kilometer-wide strip on each side of the road. The government pledged inspection checkpoints, enforcement bases and new conservation units. A private company will be hired in 2028 to support enforcement.

In 2024 the group filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2022 preliminary paving license. A higher court later overturned an April suspension of bidding. Minister George Santoro said Wednesday the entire highway will be under contract and undergoing work by the end of June.

Research cited during the announcement showed that 95 percent of forest clearing occurs within 5.5 kilometers of roads. For every kilometer of official road, roughly three kilometers of unofficial roads appear.