Research Alert
1. Papua New Guinea has the third largest tropical rainforest on the planet.
2. Using fine-scale biophysical and environmental data, researchers assessed a plan that calls for doubling PNG’s road network over the next three years.
3. The team found that roads would dissect more than 50 of PNG’s critical habitats home to rare species as Goodfellow’s and Matchie’s tree kangaroos and several birds of paradise, and would open up areas to hunting, logging, and land-conversion, including carbon-rich peatlands.
Study and Journal: "Infrastructure expansion challenges sustainable development in Papua New Guinea" from PLOS ONE
WCS Co-Author(s): T. Mutton , WCS PNG Program ; A. Brenier , WCS PNG Program