Nevertheless, locals and conservationists have expressed outrage at the environmental impact of the highway. The Amazon plays a vital role in absorbing carbon for the world and providing biodiversity.
Professor Silvia Sardinha works as a wildlife researcher at a university animal hospital where injured animals are treated and then released back into the wild. The hospital overlooks where the highway is being built.
"From the moment of deforestation, there is a loss," Sardinha said. "We are going to lose an area to release these animals back into the wild, the natural environment of these species. Land animals will no longer be able to cross to the other side too, reducing the areas where they can live and breed."
The project also is harming locals' ability to raise income.
"Everything was destroyed," said Claudio Verequete, who lives