Brazil creates four Amazon reserves as plans to pave the BR-319 highway move ahead
The reserves protect more than 668,000 hectares of rainforest, but experts warn that enforcement along the road remains weak.
Brazil has created four new sustainable development reserves covering more than 668,000 hectares (1.65 million acres) of Amazon rainforest, in an effort to limit damage from the government's plan to fully pave the BR-319 highway.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed the decrees Sept. 8. The reserves allow existing residents to stay and harvest forest products, and will be managed by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, a federal agency. Buffer zones place about 110,000 more hectares under some protection, though mining could be allowed there.
The highway links the cities of Manaus and Porto Velho and cuts through one of the most intact parts of the Amazon. Its 339-kilometer middle section is largely impassable in the rainy season. Deforestation along the route jumped 144% between 2019 and 2022 after then-President Jair Bolsonaro pledged to repave it.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said deforestation fell 73% from 2022 to 2025 and a further 43% through July 2026.
Experts say protection on paper is not enough. “Creating conservation units alone isn't enough,” said Suely Araújo, a senior public policy specialist at the Climate Observatory, noting that the agency managing the reserves remains underfunded.
This brief is based on reporting by Shanna Hanbury, published Sept. 22, 2026, on Mongabay. Read the original: https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/brazil-creates-four-amazon-reserves-as-plans-to-pave-rainforest-highway-advance/
This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by an editor before publication.
