Minimizing Ecological Damage from Road Improvement in Tropical Forests
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World Bank, Washington, DC
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A spatial econometric model is used to
link road upgrading to forest clearing and biodiversity loss
in the moist tropical forests of Bolivia, Cameroon, and
Myanmar. Using 250-meter cells, the model estimates the
relationship between the rate of forest clearing in a cell
and its distance to the urban market, with explicit
attention given to road quality and simultaneity, terrain
elevation and slope, the agricultural opportunity value of
the land, and its legal protection status. Forest clearing
is found to be most responsive to the distance to the
nearest urban market, especially with secondary roads with
lower typical speeds. Using the estimated forest-clearing
response elasticities and a composite biodiversity
indicator, an index of expected biodiversity loss from
upgrading secondary roads to primary status is computed in
each cell. The results identify areas in the three countries
where high expected biodiversity losses may warrant
additional protection as road upgrading continues. In
addition, the results provide ecological risk ratings for
individual road corridors that can inform environmentally
sensitive infrastructure investment programs.
Palabras clave
roads, tropical forests, forest clearing, road improvement, biodiversity, ecological risk, infrastructure investment, environmental standards