Brazil moves toward paving road key to deforestation

by FABIANO MAISONNAVE

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The Brazilian government has granted a preliminary environmental permit for paving a controversial highway that cuts through one of the Amazon’s most preserved areas. The BR-319 is about 900 kilometers long and is the only highway connecting the city of Manaus with the nation’s larger urban centers further south. Today, nearly half BR-319 is unpaved, and that stretch usually becomes impassable during the rainy season which lasts up to three months some years. That keeps potential forest clear cutters away. Researchers and environmentalists argue that paving this road will lead to mass clearing of pristine rainforest, but President Jair Bolsonaro celebrated the advance.