Effects of logging on roadless space in intact forest landscapes of the Congo Basin

authored by

Fritz Kleinschroth, John R. Healey, Sylvie Gourlet-Fleury, Frédéric Mortier, Radu S. Stoica

Abstract

Forest degradation in the tropics is often associated with roads built for selective logging. The protection of intact forest landscapes (IFL) that are not accessible by roads is high on the biodiversity conservation agenda and a challenge for logging concessions certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). A frequently advocated conservation objective is to maximize the retention of roadless space, a concept that is based on distance to the nearest road from any point. We developed a novel use of the empty-space function – a general statistical tool based on stochastic geometry and random sets theory – to calculate roadless space in a part of the Congo Basin where road networks have been expanding rapidly. We compared the temporal development of roadless space in certified and uncertified logging concessions inside and outside areas declared IFL in 2000. Inside IFLs, road-network expansion led to a decrease in roadless space by more than half from 1999 to 2007. After 2007, loss leveled out in most areas to close to 0 due to an equilibrium between newly built roads and abandoned roads that became revegetated. However, concessions in IFL certified by FSC since around 2007 continuously lost roadless space and reached a level comparable to all other concessions. Only national parks remained mostly roadless. We recommend that forest-management policies make the preservation of large connected forest areas a top priority by effectively monitoring – and limiting – the occupation of space by roads that are permanently accessible.

External Organisation(s)

UPR Forêts et Sociétés
Bangor University
Université de Lorraine (UL)
Observatoire de Paris (OBSPARIS)

Type

Article

Journal

Conservation biology

Volume

31

Pages

469-480

No. of pages

12

ISSN

0888-8892

Publication date

01.04.2017

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Ecology, Nature and Landscape Conservation

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12815 (Access: Open)