{"id":505839,"date":"2026-05-27T21:51:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T21:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/505839\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T21:51:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T21:51:10","slug":"brazil-to-invest-75-million-in-highway-through-amazon-and-unveils-environmental-protection-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/505839\/","title":{"rendered":"Brazil to invest $75 million in highway through Amazon and unveils environmental protection plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAO PAULO (AP) \u2014 Brazil\u2019s<\/a> government announced Wednesday that it will invest $75 million in the BR-319 highway<\/a> cutting through the Amazon rainforest, a project environmentalists say could accelerate deforestation and worsen climate change.<\/p>\n

President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva’s administration simultaneously announced an environmental protection plan to safeguard the forest from potential impacts from the highway, which connects the northern states of Amazonas and Rondonia with the rest of Brazil.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom an environmental standpoint, it will be the most modern road in the world,\u201d Lula<\/a> said during a ceremony in Amazonas state, accompanied by Environment Minister Jo\u00e3o Paulo Capobianco.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny foreigner who comes here to weigh in on the climate issue, we will show what we\u2019ve done here,\u201d Lula said.<\/p>\n

The BR-319 highway was inaugurated in 1976 but remains largely unpaved. It cuts through the Amazon rainforest and reaches Manaus, the Amazon\u2019s largest city, with more than 2 million residents. The road runs alongside the Madeira River \u2014 one of the Amazon River\u2019s main tributaries that has suffered from droughts<\/a> that disrupt cargo transport.<\/p>\n

In Wednesday’s ceremony in Iranduba, a city in Amazonas about 23 miles (37 kilometers) from Manaus, the Brazilian government also announced local investments including projects by state-run oil company Petrobras<\/a> and its subsidiary Transpetro in Amazonas. Lula was accompanied by local politicians who are expected to support his campaign for reelection to a fourth, nonconsecutive term in October.<\/p>\n

Government unveils protection measures<\/p>\n

Officials showed a video outlining environmental protection measures for the highway, including environmental monitoring of a 50\u2011kilometer-wide (31-mile-wide) strip on each side of the road along its entire length. They said the highway requires a stronger state presence since it runs through one of the rainforest’s most sensitive areas.<\/p>\n

The government also pledged to install inspection checkpoints, enforcement agency bases and to create new conservation units. It said it would hire a private company in 2028 to support enforcement.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Lula visited a section of the highway, posing with machinery and workers, and appearing to operate equipment as work continued on the dirt road.<\/p>\n

Environmental groups, including the Climate Observatory, have challenged the project in court. In 2024, Climate Observatory filed a lawsuit to overturn the 2022 preliminary license for paving the BR-319 highway, arguing that officials ignored technical warnings from Brazil\u2019s environmental agency and failed to require key safeguards, such as Indigenous consultation and climate impact studies.<\/p>\n

Subsequent legal challenges briefly halted a related bidding process in April, but a higher court soon overturned the suspension.<\/p>\n

Minister George Santoro said Wednesday that the entire highway will be under contract and undergoing work by the end of June.<\/p>\n

Amazon roads linked to deforestation<\/p>\n

The Amazon, the world\u2019s largest rainforest, plays a critical role in regulating the global climate. The road cuts through one of the biome\u2019s most well-preserved regions, home to dozens of protected areas and Indigenous territories.<\/p>\n

Scientific research has shown that opening new roads in the rainforest<\/a> drives deforestation, spurring the spread of illegal side roads. A 2014 study published in the journal Biological Conservation found that 95% of forest clearing occurs within 5.5 kilometers (3.4 miles) of roads. For every 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) of official road, there are roughly 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) of unofficial roads.<\/p>\n

Marina Silva, a former environment minister in Lula\u2019s administration, said during a Senate hearing last year that deforestation in the BR-319 area surged immediately after roadworks were announced. She resigned in April<\/a> to run for Congress.<\/p>\n

Marcio Astrini, executive director of Climate Observatory, said the government is bypassing due process in implementing the measures to safeguard environmental protections. A plan to prevent deforestation along the highway, he said, should have been discussed, approved and implemented before paving began \u2014 not at the same time as is happening now.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust the simple announcement under (former President Jair) Bolsonaro’s government that the road would be rebuilt nearly doubled land grabbing and deforestation in the area. Laying asphalt there creates another incentive,\u201d Astrini said. \u201cIf there are no protection measures in place, it just becomes yet another driver of deforestation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

The Associated Press\u2019 climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s standards<\/a> for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAO PAULO (AP) \u2014 Brazil\u2019s government announced Wednesday that it will invest $75 million in the BR-319 highway…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":505840,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[269],"tags":[1463,29076,29434,377,88416,11659,18,440,219601,34228,12214,19,17,33405,219602,133,151648],"class_list":["post-505839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-amazon","tag-amazon-river","tag-amazonas","tag-brazil","tag-brazilian-government","tag-deforestation","tag-eire","tag-environment","tag-environmental-agency","tag-environmental-monitoring","tag-environmental-protection","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-luiz-inacio-lula-da-silva","tag-protection-measures","tag-science","tag-the-amazon-rainforest"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116648757634999130","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/505840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}