Highway

The last portion to be paved of the Interoceanic Highway, the first road to span the breadth of South America, runs between the Andes and the Amazon on the Peruvian border. Locals we spoke with, like this man, have mixed opinions of the road. Highways are notorious conduits of environmental destruction in the Amazon region - opening up vast primary forests to such destructive practices as gold-mining, poaching, illegal logging, squatting and associated land-clearing. Some are happy: the road will provide access to natural resource rich regions of the Amazon. But at what cost, ask others? The road has already begun to attract drug runners, coca growers, prostitution, squatters and the aforementioned environmental degradation. The solution is proper planning and vigilance, but at least to date, the Peruvian government has been slow to act.