Trans-Amazonian Highway

It has indirectly caused a great deal of deforestation in Brazil - where there are roads it is easier to transport timber. Satellite images demonstrate how roads increase deforestation. Access roads branch perpendicularly off BR-230 allowing deeper penetration into the surrounding jungle areas. Originally these roads were to open up land for agriculture by settlers, the government motto "land without men for men without land" was coined to describe the development of the Amazon. However, loggers have used these roadways to further deforest the surrounding jungle.
The Trans-Amazonian Highway has offered an overland route into remote areas of the Amazon. Some adventurers have used this route to traverse the width of the Amazon jungle. Over the history of the Trans-Amazonian Highway one woman and three men have cycled BR-230 including Louise Sutherland of New Zealand. She was the first person to take on this challenge and chronicled her journey in the now out of print book The Impossible Ride. Recently, the first American, Douglas Gunzelmann, successfully cycled the Trans-Amazonian Highway.