AsianScientist (Sep. 8, 2014) – An international research team has created a ‘global roadmap’ for prioritizing road building to balance the competing demands of development and environmental protection. The findings have been published in Nature.
Scientists from the University of Melbourne and James Cook University, in collaboration with colleagues from Harvard, Cambridge and others, have plotted out the world’s most important ecosystems and biodiversity, to identify where new roads would have the greatest benefits for humanity.
More than 25 million kilometers of new roads will be built worldwide by 2050 and many roads will slice into the Earth’s last regions of wildernesses. Unfortunately, much of these will occur too quickly for urban planners to keep up, resulting in poorly thought-out and disorganized road systems.
“The transport infrastructure we use tomorrow must also be strategically planned for today,” said Dr. Rodney van der Ree from the University of Melbourne and the Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology, who was a key member of the team.
“Ad hoc approaches that deal with one road at a time fail to see the bigger picture and this often results in poor outcomes for the health of the planet and people.”
In constructing the map, the study authors sought to keep environmental destruction to a minimum. Agricultural development was also prioritized, since global food demand is expected to double by the next mid-century. According to the authors, new or improved roads will be vital for farming to be a more efficient and profitable enterprise.
The researchers hope their the global roadmap will be adopted by governments and international funding agencies to help balance explosive development and conservation pressures.
The article can be found at: Laurance et al. (2014) A global strategy for road building.
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Source: University of Melbourne
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