Brazil highway targets heart of Amazon

Brazil is planning to rebuild a controversial highway through the heart of the Amazon to spur economic development, but ecologists fear that the road, known as BR-319, will threaten a vast area of intact rainforest


President Jair Bolsonaro (right) has vowed to repave BR-319 – route is now impassable during Brazil’s roughly six-month rainy season


Manaus: Riverfront metropolis of two million people is consistently reachable only by water and air travel from rest of Brazil

BR-319: Researchers say repaved road would trigger explosion of deforestation in Amazonas, currently Brazil’s best preserved rainforest state

COLOMBIA
PERU
VENEZUELA
Boa Vista
Rio Negro
AMAZONAS STATE
Porto Velho
Rio Branco
BOLIVIA
GUYANA
SURINAME
ATLANTIC OCEAN
FRENCH GUIANA
Amazon River
Santarém
BRAZIL

500km 310 miles

Existing forest 
Major highways


Sources: Global Forest Watch, Reuters
Pictures: Getty Images, Newscom 
© GRAPHIC NEWS