#Road building almost always precedes #forest loss, and road density is by far the strongest correlate of #deforestation out of 38 #biophysical and #socioeconomic factors.
Findings of the study imply that the most vital #conservation function of protected areas is limiting roads and road-related environmental disruption. They suggest that burgeoning, poorly studied ghost roads are among the gravest of all direct #threats to #tropical forests.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07303-5

#asia #nature #environment

Ghost roads and the destruction of Asia-Pacific tropical forests - Nature

An effort to map roads in the Asia-Pacific region finds that there are 3.0–6.6 times more roads than other sources suggest, and that unmapped ‘ghost roads’ are a major contributor to tropical forest loss.

^Nature