Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 628-634 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Nature Sustainability |
| Volume | 2 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jul 2019 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Abstract
Roads facilitate development in remote forest regions, often with detrimental consequences for ecosystems. In the Congo Basin, unpaved logging roads used by timber firms, as well as paved and unpaved public roads, have expanded greatly. Comparing old (before 2003) and new (2003–2018) road datasets derived from Landsat imagery, we show that the total length of road networks inside logging concessions in Central Africa has doubled since 2003, whereas the total length of roads outside concessions has increased by 40%. We estimate that 44% of roads in logging concessions were abandoned by 2018, as compared to just 12% of roads outside concessions. Annual deforestation rates between 2000 and 2017 near (within 1 km) roads increased markedly and were highest for old roads, lowest for abandoned roads and generally higher outside logging concessions. The impact of logging on deforestation is partially ameliorated by the nearly fourfold higher rate of road abandonment inside concessions, but the overall expansion of logging roads in the Congo Basin is of broad concern for forest ecosystems, carbon storage and wildlife vulnerable to hunting. Road decommissioning after logging could play a crucial role in reducing the negative impacts of timber extraction on forest ecosystems.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Environmental Science(all)
- Global and Planetary Change
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Food Science
- Social Sciences(all)
- Geography, Planning and Development
- Environmental Science(all)
- Ecology
- Energy(all)
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Social Sciences(all)
- Urban Studies
- Environmental Science(all)
- Nature and Landscape Conservation
- Environmental Science(all)
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Sustainable Development Goals
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In: Nature Sustainability, Vol. 2, No. 7, 01.07.2019, p. 628-634.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Road expansion and persistence in forests of the Congo Basin
AU - Kleinschroth, Fritz
AU - Laporte, Nadine
AU - Laurance, William F.
AU - Goetz, Scott J.
AU - Ghazoul, Jaboury
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2019, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
PY - 2019/7/1
Y1 - 2019/7/1
N2 - Roads facilitate development in remote forest regions, often with detrimental consequences for ecosystems. In the Congo Basin, unpaved logging roads used by timber firms, as well as paved and unpaved public roads, have expanded greatly. Comparing old (before 2003) and new (2003–2018) road datasets derived from Landsat imagery, we show that the total length of road networks inside logging concessions in Central Africa has doubled since 2003, whereas the total length of roads outside concessions has increased by 40%. We estimate that 44% of roads in logging concessions were abandoned by 2018, as compared to just 12% of roads outside concessions. Annual deforestation rates between 2000 and 2017 near (within 1 km) roads increased markedly and were highest for old roads, lowest for abandoned roads and generally higher outside logging concessions. The impact of logging on deforestation is partially ameliorated by the nearly fourfold higher rate of road abandonment inside concessions, but the overall expansion of logging roads in the Congo Basin is of broad concern for forest ecosystems, carbon storage and wildlife vulnerable to hunting. Road decommissioning after logging could play a crucial role in reducing the negative impacts of timber extraction on forest ecosystems.
AB - Roads facilitate development in remote forest regions, often with detrimental consequences for ecosystems. In the Congo Basin, unpaved logging roads used by timber firms, as well as paved and unpaved public roads, have expanded greatly. Comparing old (before 2003) and new (2003–2018) road datasets derived from Landsat imagery, we show that the total length of road networks inside logging concessions in Central Africa has doubled since 2003, whereas the total length of roads outside concessions has increased by 40%. We estimate that 44% of roads in logging concessions were abandoned by 2018, as compared to just 12% of roads outside concessions. Annual deforestation rates between 2000 and 2017 near (within 1 km) roads increased markedly and were highest for old roads, lowest for abandoned roads and generally higher outside logging concessions. The impact of logging on deforestation is partially ameliorated by the nearly fourfold higher rate of road abandonment inside concessions, but the overall expansion of logging roads in the Congo Basin is of broad concern for forest ecosystems, carbon storage and wildlife vulnerable to hunting. Road decommissioning after logging could play a crucial role in reducing the negative impacts of timber extraction on forest ecosystems.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85068164974&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41893-019-0310-6
DO - 10.1038/s41893-019-0310-6
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85068164974
VL - 2
SP - 628
EP - 634
JO - Nature Sustainability
JF - Nature Sustainability
SN - 2398-9629
IS - 7
ER -