Mongabay: It was 2009 when I first laid eyes on the 2,500 kilometer-long Interoceanic Highway that connects the west coast of Peru with the western Brazilian border - bisecting the entirety of the Peruvian Amazon. Far from impressive, it resembled a scraggly dirt and gravel path, blanketed on both sides by massive Amazonian trees. Traveling on the highway by car was an exercise in sheer luck. Huge clouds of dust rose high into the sky around my car and visibility was less than 10 meters (30 feet) - neither...