Road Building in the Amazon When one thinks of the Amazon rainforest, it is very unlikely that paved roads and highways come to the imagination. Unfortunately, over the past 35 years, road construction has been the leading cause of deforestation in Brazil's Amazon basin. In an effort to expand its borders and economically develop the country's impenetrable areas, the Brazilian government has launched a series of projects aimed at improving the infrastructure of the Amazon region. This primarily included the construction of major transportation arteries such as the Trans-Amazon Highway and the subsidizing of small-scale agriculture along these arteries. The National Development Plans (NDPs) have not achieved their initial objectives because few people have settled in the newly expanded areas and those who have settled still suffer from low incomes, lack of educational opportunities and a low life expectancy.1 The negative impact on the environment of development plans anticipated by human expansion is enormous. An estimated 10 million hectares of Amazon rainforest have been destroyed due to clear-cutting, slash-and-burn, slash-and-burn agriculture, and conversion to pasture. Deforestation is mainly caused by road construction since 74% of converted areas are within 50 km of roads.1 This clearly shows that border expansion and colonization for economic and social reasons has a devastating effect on the environment. The Brazilian Amazon is the largest expanse of intact rainforest and, unfortunately, this natural treasure is being damaged very carelessly and at an extremely high rate. Despite the grim findings above, the Brazilian government persists in its efforts to expand infrastructure by appropriating more resources. and more land from the heart of the Amazon basin. In 1999, the government launched a new program, called Avança Brazil (Forward Brazil), which aims to add 6,245 km of paved highways and 1,600 km of railways to the existing transportation network. Highlights of the project include the construction of the Santarem-Cuiaba and Porto Velho-Manaus highways, which would pass through virgin forest areas.1There is heated debate over the environmental effects of the new construction project. Researchers and environmentalists predict that “Avança Brazil” will cause deforestation of between 269,000 and 506,000 hectares per year. They also accuse the Brazilian government of negligence and corruption because "Avança Brazil" was approved without the necessary environmental assessment reports from the Ministry of the Environment.2 Government officials say measures were taken to minimize the negative impact on the environment, but do not present facts or examples of how this is done.