On July 15, Brazil’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA) and the Ministry of Transportation reached an “accord” for licensing the notorious BR-319 (Manaus-Porto Velho) highway reconstruction project. The Ministry of Transportation will contract a company to perform a “strategic environmental assessment” (AAE) over eight months to recommend policies to control deforestation, strengthen local communities and “regularize” land tenure in a strip 50 kilometers (31 miles) wide along either side of the highway. Implementation of the plan will be the responsibility of the Civil House (not an environmental agency). The environmental license for the highway reconstruction project is still pending with IBAMA (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources), the a

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