Overview
- The federal government announced a $75 million investment in the BR-319 highway and said it will move to contract work so the route is under contract and being worked on by the end of June.
- Officials presented an environmental plan that includes monitoring a 50-kilometer-wide strip on each side of the road, inspection checkpoints, new enforcement bases and the creation of conservation units.
- The government said it will hire a private contractor to support enforcement in 2028, a timeline that critics say leaves a gap during the most sensitive early phase of paving.
- Environmental groups and lawyers have ongoing legal challenges to licenses for the project, arguing that key safeguards such as Indigenous consultation and full impact studies were not completed before approvals.
- Scientists and past regional experience warn that paved roads drive clearing near road edges — a widely cited 2014 study found about 95% of forest loss occurs within 5.5 kilometers of roads — raising concerns that paving BR-319 could spur land grabbing, more deforestation and higher carbon emissions.