ROADS TO RUIN: EXPANDING TRANSPORTATION NETWORKS IMPERIL GLOBAL William F. Laurance Is James Cook Distinguished Research Professor at James Cook University in Cairns, northern Queensland, Australia. His research focuses on the impact of intensive land- uses, such as , , and wildfires, on tropical , and on global-change phenomena and conservation policy. He works extensively in Amazonia, Australasia, and Central Africa. Dr. Laurance received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1989 and subsequently held research and science-leadership positions in tropical Australia. From 1996–2009 he spent 14 years as a Senior Scientist with the Smithsonian Institution, where he was based in and Panama. Dr. Laurance has published five books and over 300 scientific and popular articles. A leading voice for conservation, he firmly believes that scientists must engage policy makers and the general public, as well as other scientists. He has received numerous professional awards and is a fellow of the American Association of the Advancement of Science and former president of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, the world’s largest scientific organization devoted to the study and preservation of tropical ecosystems. “The best thing you could do for the Amazon nations harbor much of the world’s biodiversity— and is to bomb all the roads.” sustaining at least half of the planet’s species in Dr. ENEAS SALATI, other linear Technical Director, Brazilian Institute for just 7% of its land area (Primack 2006)—and Sustainable Development, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil are where roads are expanding most swiftly. infrastructure have serious “Highways are the seeds of tropical forest destruction.” RoADs AND RAINFoREst bIoDIvERsIty environmental Dr. THOMAS E. LOVEJOY, impacts on Biodiversity Chair, Thomas H. Heinz Center Roads and other linear infrastructure have se- Washington, D.C., USA rious environmental impacts on natural habi- natural habitats “In the Congo, rapidly proliferating roads— tats worldwide (Forman and Alexander 1998; worldwide, and the ivory hunters they bring—are decimating Trombulak and Frissel 2000), but tropical rain- the African forest elephant.” but tropical Dr. STEPHEN BLAKE, forests seem specially vulnerable (Laurance et rainforests former Inventory Coordinator of the MIKE al., in press). (Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants) Firstly, from a biological perspective, rainfor- seem specially Program in central Africa ests have a complex architecture and uniquely vulnerable. vILIFyING RoADs humid, dark, stable microclimate. They sustain many animal species specialized for living in As the quotes above illustrate, environmental forest-interior and understory conditions [Figure scientists often take a very dim view of roads 1], some of which strongly avoid abrupt forest and highways in the vicinity of natural ecosys- edges along clearings and rarely cross even nar- tems. This perspective is strikingly different row forest openings. Other tropical species are from that of many economists and regional plan- vulnerable to , -kill from vehicles, ners, who typically extol the “opening up” of elevated predation, and species invasions near frontier regions by new roads as a good thing roads. The net effect is that, by virtue of their (e.g., Simuyemba 2001; Duval 2008). Why unique characteristics and abundance of eco- such a dramatic difference in perception? logically specialized species, rainforests and Here I evaluate the impacts of roads from a their wildlife are exceptionally vulnerable to broad environmental standpoint. At the outset, roads and other linear clearings. I describe how and why economic globaliza- Secondly, from a socioeconomic perspec- tion is promoting rapid road expansion in many tive, tropical rainforests are strongly concen- previously road-free areas. I then highlight the trated in developing nations, many of which are manifold environmental impacts of roads on na- experiencing further , rapid tive ecosystems and wildlife. Finally, I consider economic development, and intense natural-re- some strategies to reduce the impacts and ex- source exploitation. As a result, roads are run- tent of roads. As will quickly become apparent, I ning riot. For example, Brazil has just punched hold a deeply ambivalent view of roads: they are a 1200-kilometer-long highway into the heart a necessary part of contemporary life, but they of the Amazon (the BR-163) and is in the pro- are sometimes environmentally devastating. cess of constructing another, 900-kilometer-long Two caveats are needed before I proceed fur- highway (the BR-319) that will cut into nearly ther. First, in a functional sense there can be a FIGURe 1 strong distinction between a “highway,” which Myriad species, such as this lemuroid ring- is a major paved thoroughfare that provides year- tail possum (Hemibelideus lemuroides) from round access to a region, and a “road,” which is northern Queensland, Australia, are special- generally smaller and may or may not be paved. ized for the dark, humid conditions of tropi- For simplicity, however, I will use the term “road” cal rainforests (photo © Michael Trenerry). for either. Both are examples of linear infrastruc- ture, which also includes power lines, gas lines, railroads, and canals. Linear infrastructures are among the most ubiquitous features of human activity in the world today. Secondly, I will focus here exclusively on trop- ical nations. These are the areas I know best, hav- ing spent the better part of three decades living and working in them. More importantly, tropical

RoADs to RUIN WILLIAM F. LAURANCE 199 Name and location* Synopsis of impact pristine forest. A triad of new highways is slicing across the Andes Mountains, from the Amazon Existing roads to the Pacific. New road networks in Belem-Brasília Highway, Paved in the 1960s, this 1500-km highway has spawned are opening up some of the island’s last remain- Brazil a 400-km-wide slash of across eastern Amazonia ing forests to predatory loggers and hunters. A recent study found 52,000 kilometers of new Cuiabá-Porto Velho Highway, This 1500-km highway, funded by the World Bank, has logging roads in the Congo Basin (LaPorte et al. Brazil promoted rampant forest loss in southwestern Amazonia 2007). These are but a small sampling of the new roads and highways penetrating into the world’s Cuiaba-Santarém Highway, Visible as a “line of fire” at night, this recently paved highway last tropical frontiers [Figure 2]. Brazil cuts for over 1200 km into the heart of the Amazon GLoBALIzATIoN AND RoADS Ecuadorian oil roads Roads associated with two 400-km-long oil pipelines have opened up much of Ecuadorian Amazonia to destructive Economic globalization is playing an ever-big- colonization, with major impacts on indigenous groups ger role in road expansion and tropical defor- estation. Tropical forests are disappearing at Samling Road, Sarawak, This 300-km road, recently built by Samling Timber Corporation, an average rate of 10–13 million hectares a Malaysia is opening up northern Sarawak, Borneo to industrial logging year (FAO 2005)—the equivalent of roughly 50 football fields per minute. While this rate Andaman Trunk Road, Running 420 km across four nearby islands, this highway has remained relatively constant over the past Andaman Islands, India promoted both massive deforestation and social upheaval for the indigenous communities of the islands few decades, the underlying causes of defores- tation have shifted dramatically—from mostly small-scale, subsistence-driven deforestation Douala-Bangui Road, Cameroon- Completed in 2003, this highway cuts 1400 km across the Central African Republic northwestern Congo Basin and has promoted massive logging, through the 1980s, to far more industrial-driven , and forest loss deforestation more recently (Geist and Lambin 2002; Rudel 2005). Beginning around the end of the Second Roads under construction or planned World War and continuing through the late

Manaus-Porto Velho Highway, This 900-km paved highway will link the nearly pristine central 1980s, tropical deforestation was mostly a con- Brazil Amazon to major population centers to the south sequence of two factors. The first was explosive growth of the human population in developing Transoceanic Highways, Already hotspots of deforestation and frontier lawlessness, nations (Myers 1993). From 1950 to 1990, Peru-Bolivia-Brazil this triad of paved highways will link Brazil to the Pacific for example, the populations of the three big- Ocean and lucrative export markets in gest tropical nations, Brazil, , and the Democratic Republic of Congo, collectively rose Trans-Congo Road, Funded by China, this 1600-km road will cut across the Congo Democratic Republic of Congo Basin, from the southeast to northwest, providing access by more than 250%, from 146 million to 368 to rich mineral and timber resources million people (UN 2004). The second factor promoting deforestation was government pol- North-South Economic Corridor, This 1500-km highway will provide a direct link between icies for rural development, such as agricul- Indochina aggressive timber importers in China and Laos, Cambodia, tural loans, tax incentives, forest-colonization Thailand, and Myanmar, whose forests are rapidly shrinking programs, and rural-road construction (Rudel 2005). Such initiatives, especially evident in Leuser Road Plan, Sumatra, This network of 450 km of main roads and 1200 km of minor Indonesia roads is likely to open up surviving forests in northern Sumatra countries like Brazil and Indonesia (Fearnside to , poaching, and deforestation 1997), promoted large influxes of colonists and shifting cultivators [Figure 3] into frontier areas Mamberamo Basin Roads, Spanning 1400 km, this China-funded road network will and caused alarming forest loss. Papua, Indonesia crisscross pristine forests in northwestern New Guinea More recently, however, the impacts of ru- ral peoples on tropical forests seem to be sta- bilizing. Although many tropical nations still FIGURE 2 have considerable population growth, strong * Roads to ruin. A sampling of the most envi- Compiled from refereed publications, technical reports, urbanization trends (except in Sub-Saharan Af- ronmentally destructive roads in the tropics and consultations with tropical researchers, environmental rica) mean that rural populations are growing and others imminently planned or under organizations, and conservation websites such more slowly [Graph 1], and are even declining construction. as www.mongabay.com. in some areas (UN 2004). The popularity of large-scale frontier-colonization programs has

200 THE MULTIPLE FACES oF GLoBALIzATIoN also waned (Fearnside 1997; Rudel 2005). If GRAPHic 1 4.0 such trends continue, they could begin to al- Past and projected changes in rural and leviate some pressures on forests from small- urban urban populations for developing nations, scale farming, hunting, and fuel-wood gathering 3.5 rural based on data from the UN Population Di- vision. Projected changes are for a ‘median’ (Wright and Muller-Landau 2006). 3.0 population-growth scenario (Adapted from At the same time, globalized financial mar- Engelman 1998). kets and a worldwide commodity boom are cre- 2.5 ating a highly attractive environment for the NUMBER OF PEPOPLE (BIllIons) private sector. Under these conditions, large- 2.0 scale agriculture—crops, livestock, and tree plantations—by corporations and wealthy land- 1.5 owners is increasingly emerging as the biggest direct cause of tropical deforestation (Rudel 1.0 2005; Nepstad et al. 2006a). In Brazilian Ama- zonia, for instance, large-scale ranching has ex- 0.5 observed predicted ploded, with the number of cattle quadrupling, 0.0 from about 20 to 80 million head, since 1990 YEAR 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 (Smeraldi and May 2008). Industrial soy farm- ing has also grown dramatically in Amazonia aggressively buys up huge stocks of the country’s (Fearnside 2001). In , expan- raw timber, mineral, and oil resources (Laurance sion of industrial oil palm and rubber planta- et al. 2006a). Thus, globalization may increas- tions has become a major driver of deforestation ingly de-link the relationship between local pop- (Koh and Wilcove 2008). Surging demands for ulation density and environmental degradation, grains and edible oils, driven by rising stan- so that even sparsely populated nations can be dards of living in developing countries and rapidly exploited and deforested. the global thirst for biofuels, are also spurring these trends (Von Braun 2007; Scharlemann ROADS AND RAINFORESTS and Laurance 2008). Road expansion and demand for new agri- Roads can have wide-ranging impacts on natu- cultural land often go hand in hand. In Brazil, ral ecosystems. Some are a direct consequence for example, the powerful soy lobby has been of road building, maintenance, and vehicle traf- a major proponent for the construction of new fic, whereas others—often the most devastat- paved highways into the unexploited heart the ing—are a result of greatly increased physical Amazon. The lobby wants these highways so accessibility to the forest (see Laurance et al., they can easily transport millions of tons of soy in press). Here I briefly summarize some the to the Amazon River, where it can then be ex- main effect of roads on rainforests. ported internationally (Fearnside 2001). Other industrial activities, especially logging, min- Physical disturbances ing, and oil or gas development [Figure 2], are and Pollution also providing a key economic impetus for road In the tropics, as elsewhere, roads can seriously building in tropical frontiers (Laurance 2001; affect local soils, streams, and Laurance et al. 2001; Asner et al. 2005; Finer (Trombulak and Frissel 2000). Roads are typi- et al. 2008). cally constructed using a cut-and-fill approach Globalization is having another important to help level local topography. Unless culverts impact on tropical deforestation. Historically, it are installed at frequent intervals, the filled ar- is the nations with the highest population den- eas impede drainage, especially in regions that sities that have tended to lose the most forest receive heavy wet-season rains. This can cause (Wright and Muller-Landau 2006) and have the flooding on the upstream side of the road that most threatened species (Sodhi et al. 2009). kills rainforest vegetation [Figure 4a]. On the However, this relationship may be weakening downstream side of roads, water flow is often because of international trade (Laurance 2007a; greatly impeded, causing streams to fail. FIGURE 3 Butler and Laurance 2008). For instance, even Road-cuts and local sand- and gravel-quar- a nation like Gabon, with a population density of rying operations are major sources of The changing drivers of tropical deforesta- tion: Small-scale cultivators versus indus- fewer than five people per square kilometer on [Figure 4b], with each hectare bleeding from trial road expansion in Gabon, central Africa average, could lose much of its forest as China 35–500 metric tons of sediments into nearby (photos: William Laurance).

ROADS TO RUIN WILLIAM F. LAURANCE 201 A streams each year (Bruijnzeel 2004). These Being ecologically specialized for dark, hu- sediments degrade water quality and clog up mid conditions, many rainforest animals tend streambeds, killing many fish, aquatic insects, to avoid the foreign disturbance created by and other stream-dwelling wildlife. roads and their abrupt forest edges. Examples Finally, roads and vehicles can be a chronic include strictly arboreal species, such as cer- source of pollutants. Dust, heavy metals, nutri- tain monkeys, sloths, and possums; understory ents, ozone, and organic molecules are elevated bats specialized for flying in dense, cluttered within 10–200 meters of roads (Trombulak and environments; understory birds [Figure 5] with Frissel 2000; Pratt and Lottermoser 2007a). a strong psychological avoidance of clearings; B Chemical pollutants and nutrient runoff from and larger mammals that shun humans or traffic roads are especially harmful to nearby streams noise near roads (Goosem 2001, 2007; Develey and wetlands, with pulses of waterborne pollut- and Stouffer 2001; S. G. Laurance et al. 2004). ants entering aquatic ecosystems when rainfall For rainforest specialists, roads can seri- is heavy (Pratt and Lottermoser 2007b). Such ously impede their natural movements, disper- contaminants can have wide-ranging effects; sal, and gene flow, leading to population for example, many aquatic insects are acutely isolation and fragmentation (Laurance et al., in sensitive to water pollution, waterborne nutri- press). Such deleterious effects are likely to be ents can promote blooms of algae that deplete compounded as road density increases, with the water of life-giving oxygen, and heavy met- road-dominated landscapes becoming increas- als are toxic to many animal species. ingly hostile terrain for rainforest specialists. In concert with other impacts, such as hunting edge and barrier effects or road-kill, roads can have a serious impact FIGURE 4 A road slicing through a rainforest is a highly ar- on population survival. Damage from road works: (a) forest flood- tificial environment. Forests along road clearings ing and (b) heavy erosion along roads in the are typically drier, hotter, and windier than are road-kill and hunting Congo Basin (photos: William F. Laurance). forest interiors. These changes can kill some trees Many animals are killed along roads from col- near the clearing from heat stress or windthrow, lisions with vehicles [Figure 6] (Goosem 1997, and the higher light levels along roads promote 2007) or from human hunting or trapping near a proliferation of disturbance-loving vines and roads. In terms of population survival, chron- weeds (Murcia 1995; Laurance et al. 2002b; S. ically elevated mortality is most serious for G. Laurance 2004). species that are rare, range over large areas,

FIGURE 5

Many understory birds, such as this black- headed antbird (Percnostola rufifrons) from central Amazonia, avoid forest clearings and edges (photo: Susan Laurance).

202 THE MULTIPLE FACES OF GLOBALIzATION or have low reproductive rates, such as pred- ators and larger-bodied mammals and birds (Bennett and Robinson 2000). Road-kill from vehicles is limited to the road surface itself. Hunting by humans, however, can create zones of elevated mortality and an- imal avoidance within at least 5–10 kilome- ters of roads, and possibly much further for wide-ranging species (Lahm et al. 1998; Laur- ance et al. 2006b, in press; Blake et al. 2007). Populations of the African forest elephant, for example, appear to be depressed up to 50 kilo- meters from roads (Blake et al. 2008). Notably, the traits that predispose a species to road-kill, such as slow movement, poor eyesight, and for- est edge-favoring behavior, are very different from those, such as large body size, gregarious social systems, conspicuous calls or displays, and the use of regular pathways, that predis- pose them to hunting or trapping by humans (Laurance et al., in press). Thus, roads affect a broad spectrum of species with widely vary- ing characteristics.

invasions of exotic sPecies Many exotic species love roads, which provide penetrating into remote frontiers also threaten FIGURE 6 avenues for invading forests. Among others, such indigenous groups attempting to live with lim- Many rainforest animals, such as this Malay- invaders include little fire ants Wasmannia( au- ited or no contact with outsiders. The Surui Am- an tapir (Tapirus indicus), are killed by colli- ropunctuta), exotic earthworms, non-rainforest erindians of Brazilian Amazonia, for instance, sions with vehicles (photo © Lan Ching Fong, World Wide Fund for Nature-Malaysia). vertebrates, fungal die-back (Phytophthora spe- have been driven to the edge of extinction by cies), and myriad weed species (Dawson and roads and the new infectious diseases they Weste 1985; Walsh et al. 2004; Brown et al. bring (Butler 2009). 2007). Some of these invaders are having major impacts on tropical ecosystems. Little fire ants, human invasions for instance, are proliferating throughout African In the tropics, roads greatly facilitate invasions rainforests around 60 times faster along logging of hunters, miners, colonists, and land specula- roads than through undisturbed forest, and kill tors—a phenomenon dubbed the “Pandora’s Box or blind native species such as monkeys, apes, Effect” (Laurance 1998). In Brazilian Amazonia, leopards, and insects (Walsh et al. 2004). In- for example, ~95% of all deforestation and fires vasions can occur with surprising rapidity; for occur within 50 kilometers of highways or roads example, non-rainforest frogs, leafcutter ants, [Figure 7] (Laurance et al. 2001). In Suriname, lianas, and exotic weeds are already penetrat- most illegal gold- operations are located ing into remote areas of the Amazon, using the near roads (Laurance 2008), whereas in tropi- verges of recently constructed roads as invasion cal Africa, hunting intensity increases so sharply corridors (Gascon et al. 1999). near roads that it strongly affects the large-scale Road-borne invaders affect people too. In distribution of forest elephants, buffalo, duikers, Ecuador, for example, human enteric pathogens primates, and other exploited species (Lahm et are 2–8 times higher in villages near roads than al. 1998; Laurance et al. 2006b; Blake et al. in more remote areas (Eisenberg et al. 2006). 2007, 2008). Roads can greatly increase trade Increased incidences of (Dutta et in bushmeat and wildlife products; for example, al. 1998), (Hayes and Ferraroni 1981), eight killed mammals were transported per hour and HIV (Carswell 1987) have been reported in on average along a single highway in Sulawesi, people living near roads in India, Brazil, and Indonesia (Lee et al. 2005). Uganda, respectively. By accelerating invasions Many formerly remote tropical regions, such of novel and potentially lethal pathogens, roads as the Amazon (Laurance et al. 2001), Congo

ROADS TO RUIN WILLIAM F. LAURANCE 203 FIGURe 7 Basin (LaPorte et al. 2007), New Guinea (Shear- A Roads promote forest destruction. man et al. 2009), and Borneo (Curran et al. (a) Close association between frontier roads 2004), are now being assailed by expanding and deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia (im- road networks, particularly from industrial tim- age from NASA). ber operations and oil, gas, and mineral proj- (b) Clustering of forest fires (red) and de- ects. Paved highways, which provide year-round forestation (yellow) near roads in northern Bolivia in 1997 (image from Marc Steininger, access to forests, typically have much greater Conservation International). impacts on forests and wildlife than do unpaved roads (Laurance et al. 2002a; Fearnside 2007; Soares-Filho et al. 2006), which tend to be- come inaccessible in the wet season. By opening up new lands for colonization, 2 km proliferating frontier roads can also depress land B prices across a region (although land prices near the road itself will typically rise because of great- er access to markets). Lower land prices create a disincentive for landowners to invest in more- sustainable land uses (Laurance et al. 2001). Agriculture in the Amazon, for instance, is over- whelmingly dominated by fire-based methods, such as slash-and-burn farming and forest burn- ing for low-density cattle ranching and charcoal production. These fire-based methods deplete soil nutrients so badly that farmlands are often abandoned after a few years, and also promote wildfires during periodic El Niño droughts (Co- chrane 2003). Were land not so cheap and read- ily available, landowners would have a greater 100 km incentive to invest in more sustainable and prof- itable farming methods, such as agroforestry, tree plantations, and fruit crops, which are not FIGURE 8 fire-based (Lauranceet al. 2001). As illustrated by these “optimistic” (above) and “non-optimistic” (below) scenarios, for- REDUCING THE IMPACTS OF ROADS ests in Brazilian Amazonia will be profoundly affected by existing and planned roads and paved highways. Both models show project- Measures to diminish the environmental im- ed forest cover for the year 2020. Areas in pacts of roads fall into two categories: local black are projected to be deforested or se- verely degraded, whereas those in red, yel- strategies to reduce road impacts, and regional low, and green will be moderately degraded, efforts to limit the expansion of roads into eco- lightly degraded, and pristine, respectively, logically sensitive areas. according to computer models (from Lau- rance et al. 2001). limiting road exPansion In simplest terms, roads can be thought of as the enemies of rainforests. Although roads are often an integral part of economic development, poorly planned roads can lead to massive forest disruption. In particular, roads that penetrate into remote frontier regions [Figure 2] should be avoided wherever and whenever possible. Paved highways are particularly damaging as they tend to spawn networks of secondary roads that dramatically increase the spatial scale of their impact (Perz et al. 2008); for example, the Belem-Brasília Highway, completed during the early 1970s, has now evolved into a 400

206 THE MULTIPLE FACES OF GLOBALIzATION FIGURE 9

Logging trucks queue up at a highway in Ma- laysian Borneo (photo by Jeffrey Vincent).

kilometer-wide swath of forest destruction and Many forests in the Asia-Pacific region have secondary roads across the eastern Brazilian already been severely depleted by loggers [Fig- Amazon (Laurance 1998). In efforts to project ure 9]. Surviving forests in the Amazon, New the future of the Amazon [Figure Guinea, and Congo Basin are now experienc- 8], the locations of roads are the greatest sin- ing explosive timber expansion, with the Con- gle factor influencing expected spatial patterns go alone having at least 52,000 kilometers of of forest loss, fragmentation, and degradation recently created logging roads (LaPorte et al. (Laurance et al. 2001; Soares-Filho et al. 2007). In the Amazon, forests penetrated by 2006). roads from logging operations are about 400% Large-scale efforts to expand regional high- more likely to be deforested than are unlogged way networks in South America, South and forests (Asner et al. 2006). Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa are Most logging in the tropics suffers from poor- cause for great concern. Across all of these re- ly planned and excessive road building (Putz gions, perhaps the most notable trend in recent et al. 2000). Efforts to reduce logging damage years is growing investment by China in fron- focus strongly on roads, with measures such as tier roads that will sharply increase access to minimizing road works via careful pre-harvest mineral, oil, and timber resources. Maintaining planning, restricting roads wherever possible to large, roadless areas of intact forest should be flatter slopes and ridgelines, limiting widths of among the highest priorities for regional con- logging roads, minimizing stream crossings to servation managers. reduce damage to streamside vegetation, and prohibiting logging during wet periods to re- managing timber oPerations duce soil erosion and stream sedimentation Industrial logging is currently occurring in about (Fimbel et al. 2001). In addition, greater atten- 28% of the world’s tropical forests (Asner et al., tion should focus on closing logging roads after in press), and is probably the greatest single harvest operations (such as by destroying key driver of road expansion in forest frontiers. In the bridges or otherwise rendering the road impass- tropics, nearly all logging is selective, with log- able) to reduce post-logging invasions of forests gers using bulldozers and other heavy equipment by illegal colonists, hunters, and miners. to extract a limited number of trees from the for- From an environmental perspective, some est (typically 1–10 trees per hectare). However, schemes for logging expansion appear espe- depending on harvest intensity, anywhere from cially alarming. In Brazilian Amazonia, for ex- 20–80% of the overhead forest-canopy cover can ample, plans are afoot to log dozens of widely be destroyed, with logging tracks and roads pro- scattered National Forests—many located in liferating throughout the forest and causing sub- remote, largely pristine areas—that could ulti- stantial soil damage, erosion, and fragmentation mately span over 50 million hectares (Verissimo of the understory vegetation (Fimbel et al. 2001). et al. 2002). The vast network of new roads

ROADS TO RUIN WILLIAM F. LAURANCE 207 globalization required for such an enterprise dramatically pRopeRly assessing Road impacts may increasingly increase forest invasions, hunting, and land Among the most serious hindrances to effec- speculation in frontier areas. Similarly, efforts tively limiting and mitigating roads is that, in de-link the are underway to open up some of the last sur- many developing nations, environmental-impact relationship viving forests in northern Sumatra to industrial assessments (EIAs) of proposed roads focus between local logging [Figure 2]. solely on the road route itself, ignoring the im- population pacts of roads on forest invasions, hunting, and Reducing human invasions secondary-road expansion (Laurance 2007b). In density and When roads in frontier areas cannot be avoided, Brazil, for instance, EIAs of major new Amazo- environmental unplanned forest loss and invasions by illegal nian highways were often confined to a narrow degradation, so colonists can be reduced by creating protect- swath along the road route itself, sometimes that even sparsely ed areas along the road route in advance of recommending such paltry mitigation measures road expansion (Fearnside 2006; Nepstad et al. as “helping” animals to move from the planned populated nations 2006b). In the Brazilian Amazon, for example, route before road building (Fearnside 2006). In can be rapidly forest destruction has been more severe along other cases, such as for certain mines, hydro- exploited and the Cuibá-Santarém Highway, which had few electric dams, and other large developments, the deforested. protected areas in place prior to road construc- EIA focuses on the project itself but ignores the tion, than along the Porto Velho-Manaus High- impact of the roads it will inevitably spawn (Reid way, where 13 protected areas were established and Souza 2005). New roads will continue to be before or during road construction (although the major drivers of forest disruption so long as the latter is still incompletely paved and could suf- EIA process is so fundamentally flawed. fer further in the future; Butler 2008a). More generally, forest fires are far less frequent near Road-design stRategies roads in Amazonian protected areas and indig- In nature reserves and other areas of high con- enous lands than near roads in unprotected for- servation significance, various measures can est [Graphic 2] (Adeney et al. 2009). be used to minimize road impacts. The most Another strategy to reduce human invasions important principle is that road density should is establishing railroads rather than roads in be minimized, and roadless core-areas maxi- frontier areas. Incursions into forests can be mized, to sustain disturbance- and hunting- partially controlled because trains stop only at sensitive wildlife and reduce exotic-species designated locations, and these can be situated invasions (Peres and Lake 2003; Blake et al. strategically to limit invasions of environmentally 2008). Flooding from road works can be mini- sensitive areas. In Brazil, for example, a railroad mized by installing large culverts at regular in- has been advocated instead of the Manaus- tervals under roads. Edge and barrier effects Porto Velho Highway, which could greatly in- can be limited by minimizing road widths so crease forest colonization in central Amazonia that some forest-canopy connectively is main- (Butler 2008b). tained and allowing secondary growth, which

) provides a partial buffer against harmful edge GRAPHic 2 2 12 effects, to proliferate along forest margins (S. G. Incidence of human-lit forest fires at vary- Laurance 2006). Bridges over watercourses that ing distances from roads, comparing ar- 10 outside reserves eas inside versus outside protected areas in include both a corridor of unflooded vegetation Brazilian Amazonia (Adapted from Adeney inside reserves and natural streambed are especially effective et al. 2009). for allowing animal movements, but culverts can 8 also provide avenues for movements of smaller animals (Goosem 2007). 6 CONCLUDING REMARkS major fires (hot pixels 100-km

4 Efforts to promote road expansion in the tropics are perhaps the most striking example of how 2 globalization and regional economic integration in developing nations can be directly at odds with nature conservation. Economists and in- 0 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 frastructure planners typically see frontier road distance to road (km) expansion in a positive light, whereas those

208 THE MULTIPLE FACES OF GLOBALIZATION alarmed by rapid deforestation perceive it in cess, promote railroads rather than roads where opposite terms, given the logistical challenges, feasible, and close down the environmentally expense, and near-futility of frontier governance most destructive roads (Laurance et al., in press). once the roads go in. Globalization and rapid economic develop- All is not hopeless, however. Because frontier ment are leading to a massive proliferation of roads play a key role in promoting tropical defor- destructive roads in the world’s last surviving ACkNoWLEdgEMENts estation and global carbon emissions (see Love- tropical frontiers. Actively limiting these frontier I thank Thomas Lovejoy, Reuben Clements, joy, this volume), forest carbon-trading initiatives roads, I assert, is by far the most realistic, cost- Rhett Butler, and Susan Laurance for com- menting on the manuscript and the BBVA could increasingly focus on limiting and mitigat- effective approach to promoting the conservation Foundation, Smithsonian Institution, and ing such roads. For example, such funds could of tropical nature and its crucial ecosystem ser- James Cook University for generous support. potentially be used to help plan and minimize vices. As Pandora quickly learned, it was far hard- Marilyn Adeney, Lan Ching Fong, Susan Laurance, Marc Steininger, Michael Tren- regional road works, establish protected areas in er to thrust the evils of the world back into the erry, and Jeffrey Vincent kindly allowed to advance of road establishment, regulate road ac- box, than to simply not open it in the first place. me to reproduce their images.

RoAds to RUIN WILLIAM F. LAURANCE 209 BIBLIOGRAPHY Adeney, J.M., N.L. Christensen, and S.L. Pimm. Cochrane, M.A. “Fire science for rainforests.” Finer, M, C.N. Jenkins, S. L. Pimm, B. Keane, “Reserves protect against deforestation Nature 421 (2003): 913–19. and C. Ross. “Oil and gas projects in the fires in the Amazon.”Plos One 4 (2009): Curran, L.M., S. Trigg, A. McDonald, D. Astia- western Amazon: threats to wilderness, e5014. ni, Y. Hardiono, P. Siregar, I. Caniago, biodiversity, and indigenous peoples.” —, E. Knapp, E.N. Broadbent, P.J.C. Oliveira, and E. Kasischke. “Lowland forest loss PLoS One 3 (2008): e2932. M. Keller, and J.N.M. Silva. “Selective in protected areas of Indonesian Borneo.” Forman, R.T.T., and L.E. Alexander. “Roads logging in the Brazilian Amazon.” Science Science 303 (2004): 1000–1003. and their major ecological effects.” Annual 310 (2005): 480–82. Dawson, P. and G. Weste. “Changes in the Review of Ecology and Systematics 29 —, E. Broadbent, P. Oliveira, M. Keller, D. distribution of Phyopthora cinnamoni in (1998): 207–31. Knapp, and J. Silva. “Logging and defor- the Brisbane Ranges National Park be- Gascon, C., T.E. Lovejoy, R.O. Bierregaard, estation trends in the Brazilian Amazon.” tween 1970 and 1980–81.” Australian J.R. Malcolm, P.C. Stouffer, H. Vascon- Proceedings of the National Academy of Journal of Botany 33 (1985): 309–15. celos, W.F. Laurance, B. Zimmerman, M. Sciences USA 103 (2006): 765–83. Develey, P.F., and P.C. Stouffer. “Effects of Tocher, and S. Borges. “Matrix habitat Asner, G.P., T.K. Rudel, T.M. Aide, R. De- roads on movements by understory birds and species persistence in tropical for- Fries, and R. Emerson. “An assessment in mixed-species flocks in Central Ama- est remnants.” Biological Conservation of contemporary change in global humid zonian Brazil.” 15 91 (1999): 223–29. tropical forests.” Conservation Biology (2001): 1416–22. Geist, H.J. and E. Lambin. “Proximate causes (in press). Dutta, P., S. Khan, C. Sharma, P. Doloi, N. and underlying driving forces of tropical Bennett, E.L. and J.G. Robinson. Hunting of Hazarika, and J. Mahanta. “Distribution deforestation.” BioScience 52 (2002): wildlife in tropical forests: implications of potential dengue vectors in major town- 143–50. for biodiversity and forest peoples. New ships along the national highways and Goosem, M. “Internal fragmentation: the ef- York: World Bank, 2000. trunk roads of northeast India.” Southeast fects of roads, highways, and powerline Blake, S., S. Strindberg, P. Boudjan, C. Ma- Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and clearings on movements and mortality of kombo, I. Bila-Isia, O. Ilambu, F. Gross- Public Health 29 (1998): 173–76. rainforest vertebrates.” In W.F. Laurance mann, L. Bene-Bene, B. de Semboli, V. Duval, Y. Economic cooperation and regional and R.O. Bierregaard, eds., Tropical forest Mbenzo, D. S’hwa, R. Bayogo, L. William- integration in the Greater Mekong Subre­ remnants: ecology, management, and con­ son, M. Fay, J. Hart, and F. Maisels. “For- gion. Bangkok, Thailand: UN Economic servation of fragmented communities. Chi- est elephant crisis in the Congo Basin.” and Social Commission for Asia and the cago: University of Chicago Press, 1997: PLoS Biology 5 (2007): e111. Pacific, 2008. 241–55. —, S. Deem, S. Strindberg, F. Maisels, L. Eisenberg, J.N.S., W. Cevallos, K. Ponce, K. —. “Effects of tropical rainforest roads on Momont, I.-B. Isia, I. Douglas-Hamilton, Levy, S. Bates, A. Hubbard, N. Vieira, et small mammals: inhibition of crossing mo- W. Karesh, and M. Kock. “Roadless wil- al. “Environmental change in the form vements.” Wildlife Research 28 (2001): derness area determines forest elephant of new roads affects the transmission of 351–64. movements in the Congo Basin.” PLoS diarrheal pathogens in rural Ecuador.” —. “Fragmentation impacts caused by roads One 3 (2008): e3546. Proceedings of the National Academy of through rainforests.” Current Science 93 Braun, J. von. The world food situation: new Sciences USA 103 (2006): 19460–5. (2007): 1587–95. driving forces and required actions. Wash- Engelman, R. “Human population prospects: Hayes, J. and J.J. Ferraroni. “Malaria along pi- ington, D.C.: International Food Policy implications for environmental security.” oneer highways in the Brazilian Amazon.” Research Institute, 2007. In N. Polunin, ed., Population and global Ciência e Cultura 33 (1981): 924–28. Brown, G., B. Phillips, R. Shine and J. Webb. security. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Uni- Koh, L.P., and D.S. Wilcove. “Is oil palm re- “Toad on the road: Use of roads as dispersal versity Press, 1998: 47–54. ally destroying tropical biodiversity?” Con­ corridors by cane toads (Bufo marinus) at FAO. Global forest resources assessment. servation Letters 1 (2008): 60–64. an invasion front in tropical Australia.” Bio­ Rome, Italy: United Nations Food and Ag- Lahm, S.A., R.F. Barnes, K. Beardsley, and logical Conservation 133 (2007): 88–94. ricultural Organization (FAO), 2005. P. Cervinka. “A method for censuring the Bruijnzeel, L.A. “Hydrological functions of Fearnside, P.M. “Transmigration in Indonesia: greater white-nosed monkey in northeast- tropical forests: not seeing the soil for the lessons from its environmental and social ern Gabon using the population density trees?” Agriculture, Ecosystems and Envi­ impacts.” Environmental Management 21 gradient in relation to roads.” Journal of ronment 104 (2004): 185–228. (1997): 553–70. Tropical Ecology 14 (1998): 629–43. Butler, R.A. “Brazil suspends Amazon road —. “Soybean cultivation as a threat to the LaPorte, N.T, J.A. Stabach, R. Grosch, T. Lin, project until protected areas established.” environment in Brazil.” Environmental and S. Goetz. “Expansion of industrial Mongabay.com, 26 September (http:// Conservation 28 (2001): 23–38. logging in Central Africa.” Science 316 news.mogabay.com/2008/0926-amazon. —. “Containing destruction from Brazil’s Am- (2007): 451. html), 2008a. azon highways: now is the time to give Laurance, S.G. “Responses of understory —, “Railroad could reduce Amazon defor- weight to the environment in decision- rain forest birds to road edges in central estation relative to proposed highway.” making.” Environmental Conservation 33 Amazonia.” Ecological Applications 14 24 March (http://news.mongabay.com/ (2006): 181–83. (2004): 1344–57. 2008/0324-amazon.html), 2008b. —. “Brazil’s Cuiabá-Santarém (BR-163) high- —. “Rainforest roads and the future of forest- —, “Big REDD.” Washington Monthly, July/ way: the environmental cost of paving a dependent wildlife.” In W.F. Laurance, August 2009. (http://www.washington soybean corridor through the Amazon.” and C.A. Peres, eds., Emerging threats monthly.com/features/2009/0907.butler. Environmental Management 39 (2007): to tropical forests. Chicago: University of html). 601–14. Chicago Press, 2006: 253–67. —, and W.F. Laurance. “New strategies for Fimbel, R.A., A. Grajal, J.G. Robinson, eds. —, P.C. Stouffer, and W.F. Laurance. “Effects conserving tropical forests.” Trends in Ecol­ The cutting edge: conserving wildlife in of road clearings on movement patterns of ogy and Evolution 23 (2008): 469–72. logged tropical forests. New York: Colum- understory rainforest birds in Central Ama- Carswell, J.W. “HIV infection in healthy persons bia University Press, 2001. zonia.” Conservation Biology 18 (2004): in Uganda.” AIDS 1 (1987): 223–27. 1099–1109.

210 THE MULTIPLE FACES OF GLOBALIZATION —. “A crisis in the making: responses of Am­ —, S. Schwartzman, B. Bamberger, M. San­ Sodhi, N.S., M. Posa, T.M. Lee, D.Bickford, azonian forests to land use and climate tilli, D. Ray, P. Schlesinger, P. Lefebvre, A. L.P. Koh, and B.W. Brook. “The state and change.” Trends in Ecology and Evolution Alencar, E. Prinz, G. Fiske, and A. Rolla. conservation of Southeast Asian biodi­ 13 (1998): 411–15. “Inhibition of Amazon deforestation and versity.” Biodiversity and Conservation —. “Tropical logging and human invasions.” fire by parks and indigenous lands.”Con­ (2009): DOI 10.1007/s10531­009­ Conservation Biology 15 (2001): 4–5. servation Biology 20 (2006b): 65–73. 9607­5. —. “Have we overstated the tropical biodiver­ Peres, C.A. and I.R. Lake. “Extent of non tim­ Trombulak, S.C. and C.A. Frissel. “Review of sity crisis?” Trends in Ecology and Evolu­ ber resource extraction in tropical forests: ecological effects of roads on terrestrial tion 22 (2007a): 65–70. accessibility to game vertebrates by hunt­ and aquatic communities.” Conservation —. “Road to ruin.” New Scientist, June 6, ers in the Amazon basin.” Conservation Biology 14 (2000): 1–14. 2007b: 25. Biology 17 (2003): 521–35. UN. World Urbanization Prospects: The 2003 —. “The real cost of minerals.” New Scien­ Perz, S., S. Brilhante, F. Brown, M. Caldas, Revision. New York: United Nations Popu­ tist, August 16, 2008: 16. S. Ikeda, E. Mendoza, C. Overdevest, et lation Division, 2004. —, A.K.M. Albernaz, G. Schroth, P.M. Fearn­ al. “Road building, land use and climate Verissimo, A., M.A. Cochrane, and C. Souza. side, E. Venticinque, and C. Da Costa. change: prospects for environmental gov­ “National forests in the Amazon.” Sci­ “Predictors of deforestation in the Brazil­ ernance in the Amazon.” Philosophical ence 297 (2002): 1478. ian Amazon.” Journal of Biogeography 29 Transactions of the Royal Society of Lon­ Walsh, P.D., P. Henschel, K. Abernethy, C. (2002a): 737–48. don B 363 (2008): 1889–95. Tutin, P. Telfer, and S. Lahm. “Logging —, A. Alonso, M. Lee, and P. Campbell. “Chal­ Pratt, C. and B.G. Lottermoser. “Trace metal speeds little red fire ant invasion of Af­ lenges for forest conservation in Gabon, cen­ uptake by the grass Melinis repens from rica.” Biotropica 36 (2004): 637–41. tral Africa.” Futures 38 (2006a): 454–70. roadside soils and sediments, tropical Wright, S.J. and H.C. Muller­Landau. “The —, M.A. Cochrane, S. Bergen, P.M. Fearnside, Australia.” Environmental Geology 52 future of tropical forest species.” Biotro­ P. Delamonica, C. Barber, S. D’Angelo, and (2007a): 1651–62. pica 38 (2006): 287–301. T. Fernandes. “The future of the Brazilian —, and B.G. Lottermoser. “Mobilisation of Amazon” Science 291 (2001): 438–39. traffic­derived trace metals from road —, B.M. Croes, L. Tchignoumba, S.A. Lahm, corridors into coastal stream and estua­ A. Alonso, M. Lee, P. Campbell, and C. rine sediments, Cairns, northern Austra­ Ondzeano. “Impacts of roads and hunt­ lia.” Environmental Geology 52 (2007b): ing on central­African rainforest mam­ 437–48. mals.” Conservation Biology 20 (2006b): Primack, R.B. Essentials of conservation biol­ 1251–61. ogy, 4th edition. Sunderland, Massachu­ —, M. Goosem, and S.G. Laurance. “Impacts setts: Sinauer Associates, 2006. of roads and linear clearings on tropical Putz, F.E., D.P. Dykstra, and R. Heinrich. forests.” Trends in Ecology and Evolu­ “Why poor logging practices persist in tion (in press). the tropics.” Conservation Biology 14 —, T.E. Lovejoy, H.L. Vasconcelos, E.M. (2000) 951–56. Bruna, R.K. Didham, P.C. Stouffer, C. Reid, J. and W.D. de Souza. “Infrastructure Gascon, R.O. Bierregaard, S.G. Laurance, and conservation policy in Brazil.” Con­ and E. Sampiao. “Ecosystem decay of servation Biology 19 (2005): 740–46. Amazonian forest fragments: a 22­year Rudel, T.K. “Changing agents of deforesta­ investigation.” Conservation Biology 16 tion: from state­initiated to enterprise­ (2002b): 605–18. driven processes, 1970–2000.” Land Use Lee, R.J., A. Gorog, A. Dwiyahreni, S. Siwu, Policy 24 (2005): 35–41. J. Riley, H. Alexander, G. Paoli, and W. Scharlemann, J. and W.F. Laurance. “How Ramono. “Wildlife trade and implications green are biofuels?” Science 319 (2008): for law enforcement in Indonesia: a case 52–53. study from North Sulawesi.” Biological Shearman, P.L., J. Ash, B. Mackey, J.E. Bry­ Conservation 123 (2005): 477–88. an, and B. Lokes. “Forest conversion and Lovejoy, T.E. “Globalization, global warm­ degradation in Papua New Guinea 1972– ing, and the future of biodiversity.” In J. 2002” Biotropica 41 (2009): 379–90. Pardo, ed., The different faces of global­ Simuyemba, S. Linking Africa through region­ ization. Madrid, Spain: Turner Publishing al infrastructure. Nairobi, Kenya: African (in press). Development Bank, 2000. Murcia, C. “Edge effects in fragmented forests: Smeraldi, R. and P.H. May. The cattle realm: implications for conservation.” Trends in a new phase in the livestock colonization Ecology and Evolution 10 (1995): 58–62. of Brazilian Amazonia. São Paulo, Brazil: Myers, N. “Tropical forests: the main defor­ Amigos da Terra (Friends of the Earth) estation fronts.” Environmental Conser­ Amazônia Brasileira, 2008. vation 20 (1993): 9–16. Soares­Filho, B., D. Nepstad, L. Curran, G. Nepstad, D., C. Stickler, and O. Almeida. Cerqueira, R. Garcia, C. Ramos, E. Voll, “Globalization of the Amazon soy and A. McDonald, P. Lefebvre, and P. Schle­ beef industries: opportunities for conser­ singer. “Modeling Amazon conservation.” vation.” Conservation Biology 20 (2006a): Nature 440 (2006): 520–23. 1595–1604.

THOMAS MAILAeNDER Ω CATHEDRAL CARS, 2004

ROADS TO RUIN WILLIAM F. LAURANCE 211

198-213_PAL.indd 211 24/11/09 09:52:13