Brazil Allocates $75 Million to Upgrade BR-319 Highway Through Amazon Amid Environmental Dispute

On Wednesday, Brazil’s federal government announced a $75 million plan to pave and modernize the BR-319 highway, which links the northern states of Amazonas and Rondônia to the rest of the country and reaches Manaus, the Amazon’s largest city. Inaugurated in 1976, the road remains largely unpaved and runs alongside the Madeira River.

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President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco lead the project, with Infrastructure Minister George Santoro overseeing contracts. State-run Petrobras and Transpetro will participate, while the Climate Observatory (director Marcio Astrini) and former minister Marina Silva oppose it.

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The plan includes monitoring a 50-kilometer strip on each side of the road, new checkpoints, enforcement bases and conservation units. Studies show 95 % of forest loss occurs within 5.5 km of roads, and each official kilometer spawns roughly three unofficial kilometers.

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Lula described the upgraded route as “the most modern road in the world” from an environmental view and pledged to show Brazil’s climate actions to foreign observers. Capobianco said a stronger state presence is needed, and Santoro announced that contracts will be in place by June, with a private enforcement contractor to be hired in 2028.

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The Climate Observatory filed a 2024 lawsuit to overturn the 2022 preliminary license, alleging ignored technical warnings, lack of Indigenous consultation and absent climate studies. Astrini warned that protection measures are being added only as paving begins, while Silva said deforestation surged after the roadworks were announced.

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The licensing timeline is disputed: a 2022 preliminary permit was issued, an April court suspension halted a bidding process, and a higher court quickly reinstated it, leaving compliance status unclear.

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• “From an environmental standpoint, it will be the most modern road in the world,” — President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

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• “Any foreigner who comes here to weigh in on the climate issue, we will show what we’ve done here,” — President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

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• “Just 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,” — Marcio Astrini, Executive Director, Climate Observatory

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• “If there are no protection measures in place, it just becomes yet another driver of deforestation.” — Marcio Astrini, Executive Director, Climate Observatory

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Contracts are to be finalized by June, with a private enforcement firm appointed in 2028. Monitoring of a 100-kilometer protection corridor and new conservation units will proceed alongside road works, while the lawsuit remains pending.

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