Categories · Threats
Road construction/building
Logging activities start with the construction of roads in order to gain access to timber; it has been calculated that this consumes as much as 15% of the logging area. The intrusion of roads into forests are often devastating, opening up the area for further development and as communities grow more infrastructure and services are required which means more roads are needed.
Road construction opens up forest interiors increases erosion and waterway sedimentation and most destructively initiates the chain reaction of incursions by farmers, ranchers, hunters, miners and land speculators. Roads reduce continuous expanses of forest to widely dispersed patches of remnant forest vegetation. This fragmentation effect has a detrimental impact on biodiversity by decreasing species diversity and diminishing further the densities of some populations. Like other tree species, conifers are very susceptible to fragmentation.
There are 7 taxa in the category – Energy production and Infrastructure development, Road construction/building:
