"New research tries to anticipate road building to identify areas in the Amazon, Asia and Africa that are likely to face deforestation."

"Preventing illegal road building could help protect tropical forests. New research tries to identify which areas are most at risk.

A study published on Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences analyzed 137 million hectares (about 338 million acres) of existing roads built across tropical forests in Brazil, Congo and Southeast Asia. It identified features, such as soil quality, proximity to a river, topography and nearby population density, that make it more likely someone will build a new road. Researchers then mapped out which areas are most at risk for future development.

Most roads into sensitive land are built illegally. These “ghost” roads, as they are called, are not visible on maps and are unknown to officials. By opening up previously inaccessible areas, roads foreshadow tropical deforestation, said Jayden Engert, an ecologist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany who led the study."

Sachi Kitajima Mulkey reports for the New York Times December 23, 2025. [2]