Story perspectives

Illegal Roads Endanger Tropical Forests and Indigenous Communities

12/23/2025

Summary

Story summary

New research highlights illegal road building threatening tropical forests in Brazil, Congo, and Southeast Asia.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), analyzed 137 million hectares of roads to identify conditions that increase the likelihood of new roads.
The research notes that "ghost" roads contribute to deforestation and threaten Indigenous communities.
Plans to pave BR-319 in the Brazilian Amazon could exacerbate these risks.

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Story summary

New research highlights illegal road building threatening tropical forests in Brazil, Congo, and Southeast Asia.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), analyzed 137 million hectares of roads to identify conditions that increase the likelihood of new roads.
The research notes that "ghost" roads contribute to deforestation and threaten Indigenous communities.
Plans to pave BR-319 in the Brazilian Amazon could exacerbate these risks.