Harder to protect the rainforest with roads, study finds

There are calls to protect the rainforest after a new study found that a simple road construction caused "huge social changes" for the communities living in and around Ecuador's Yasuni National Park.

Problems of rainforest road construction highlighted

Following the construction of a new road in the area, the amount of wild meat sold in the nearby market of Pompeya increased significantly between the years 2005 and 2007, a study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and IDEAS-Universidad San Francisco de Quito found.

The levels of meat being sold each market day rose to over 300 kg in 2007 from approximately 150 kg per market day in 2005.

Dr Avecita Chicchon, director of WCS's Latin America and Caribbean programme, said: "A simple, seemingly inoffensive road can have far-reaching effects on a landscape and its people. It provides hunters with more access to a wider range of forest while providing a low-cost transportation route to markets."

Wildlife and tree species in Ecuador have suffered extinction at the hands of hunting and illegal logging in recent years, according to the WCS.

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