Impact of huge highways in the jungle

This report describes a five-year interdisciplinary study, co-financed by the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), on the environmental and public health impacts of the Peru-Brazil Inter-Oceanic Highway. The research highlights how the highway's construction has altered land use and rodent population dynamics, increasing the risk of zoonotic disease transmission to local human populations in Southeast Peru.

• The Peru-Brazil Inter-Oceanic Highway, a 2,600-kilometer transcontinental route built between 2002 and 2011, has provided economic and developmental benefits but has also caused biodiversity loss and changes in fauna dynamics due to altered human land use.
• Construction of the highway has changed the distribution and composition of wild rodents, increasing the risk of human contact with life-threatening rodent-borne diseases. A study of 97 rodents from eleven species collected between 2014 and 2015 found that 78% were positive for Bartonella bacteria and 24% for Leptospira.
• There is a significant gap in local awareness regarding health risks; 90% of survey respondents who had seen rodents near their homes could not identify the diseases these animals transmit. This lack of awareness, combined with a potential lack of recognition by health professionals, may lead to unnecessary morbidity and mortality.
• Local populations in the department of Madre de Dios perceive the highway's impact as mixed. Positive impacts include better access to healthcare, infrastructure, food, and employment. Negative impacts include increased crime (sex and drug trafficking), road accidents, contamination of water and food, soil depletion, flooding, and biodiversity loss driven by gold mining, much of which is illegal.
• The research recommends implementing public health strategies adapted to habitat transformation, collaborating with community leaders to improve empowerment, and establishing land-use public policies that prioritize ecosystem health before intervention.

APA

Bausch, D. (n.d.). Impact of huge highways in the jungle. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/CRN-3076.pdf

Chicago

Bausch, Daniel. Impact of huge highways in the jungle. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, n.d. https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/CRN-3076.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bausch |first1=Daniel |title=Impact of huge highways in the jungle |publisher=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |url=https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/CRN-3076.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bauschndimpact, author = {Bausch, Daniel}, title = {{Impact of huge highways in the jungle}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, url = {https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/CRN-3076.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }