Brazil moves toward paving road which is key to Amazon deforestation

A man walks down an unpaved stretch of the BR-319 road in the Brazilian Amazon (Fabiano Maisonnave/AP)

Brazil’s government has granted a preliminary environmental permit for paving a dirt road that cuts through one of the Amazon rainforest’s most preserved areas.

The road known as BR-319 runs for about 560 miles and is the only road connecting Manaus, home to 2.2 million people, with the nation’s larger urban centres further south.