Brazil's Ministry of Environment proposes creating 10 conservation areas along the route of highway BR-319, which will connect the Amazon cities of Porto Velho and Manaos. The aim is to plan an “organized” occupation of the land, with farm regulation and a government presence to prevent deforestation, Mauricio Mercadante, the ministry's director of protected areas, told Tierramérica.

The proposal will be discussed at public hearings in six cities of the region in the next couple weeks.

The imminent paving of the route has environmentalists worried — they see it as a threat to Amazonian ecosystems of vast biodiversity.

“We will only accept it if they ensure protection of indigenous lands and small farms, and benefits for other populations,” as well as an environmental impact study, said Adilson Vieira, coordinator of the Amazon Working Group, a network of 600 local organizations.