Potential Forest Loss and Biodiversity Risks from Road Improvement in Lao PDR

This paper develops and applies a spatial econometric model that links road upgrading to forest clearing and biodiversity loss in the Lao People's Democratic Republic. The paper uses 500-meter cells to estimate the relationship between the ra...

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Main Authors:	Danyo, Stephen, Dasgupta, Susmita, Wheeler, David
Format:	Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2018
Subjects:	DEFORESTATION BIODIVERSITY ROAD CONSTRUCTION INFRASTRUCTURE GREEN GROWTH PROTECTED AREA ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/977051535391124388/Potential-Forest-Loss-and-Biodiversity-Risks-from-Road-Improvement-in-Lao-PDR http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30321

id	okr-10986-30321
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-303212021-06-08T14:42:47Z Potential Forest Loss and Biodiversity Risks from Road Improvement in Lao PDR Danyo, Stephen Dasgupta, Susmita Wheeler, David DEFORESTATION BIODIVERSITY ROAD CONSTRUCTION INFRASTRUCTURE GREEN GROWTH PROTECTED AREA ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT This paper develops and applies a spatial econometric model that links road upgrading to forest clearing and biodiversity loss in the Lao People's Democratic Republic. The paper uses 500-meter cells to estimate the relationship between the rate of forest clearing in a cell and its distance to the closest point on the nearest road link, the quality of that link, the cell's legal protection status, transport cost to the nearest urban center, the agricultural opportunity value of the land, and terrain elevation. The parameter estimates are all robust, with the expected signs and very high statistical significance. The paper highlights the results that measure the impact of improved road quality on forest clearing through shorter transport times to market and lower vehicle maintenance costs. The estimated response parameters and a composite biodiversity indicator are used to compute an index of expected biodiversity loss from road upgrading in each 500meter cell. The results identify areas in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic where high expected biodiversity loss may warrant additional protection as road upgrading continues. This analysis will help policy makers in the country to weigh context-specific trade-offs between development and conservation objectives associated with road improvement. 2018-09-04T16:56:46Z 2018-09-04T16:56:46Z 2018-08 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/977051535391124388/Potential-Forest-Loss-and-Biodiversity-Risks-from-Road-Improvement-in-Lao-PDR http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30321 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8569 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper East Asia and Pacific Lao People's Democratic Republic
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English
topic	DEFORESTATION BIODIVERSITY ROAD CONSTRUCTION INFRASTRUCTURE GREEN GROWTH PROTECTED AREA ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
spellingShingle	DEFORESTATION BIODIVERSITY ROAD CONSTRUCTION INFRASTRUCTURE GREEN GROWTH PROTECTED AREA ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT Danyo, Stephen Dasgupta, Susmita Wheeler, David Potential Forest Loss and Biodiversity Risks from Road Improvement in Lao PDR
geographic_facet	East Asia and Pacific Lao People's Democratic Republic
relation	Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8569
description	This paper develops and applies a spatial econometric model that links road upgrading to forest clearing and biodiversity loss in the Lao People's Democratic Republic. The paper uses 500-meter cells to estimate the relationship between the rate of forest clearing in a cell and its distance to the closest point on the nearest road link, the quality of that link, the cell's legal protection status, transport cost to the nearest urban center, the agricultural opportunity value of the land, and terrain elevation. The parameter estimates are all robust, with the expected signs and very high statistical significance. The paper highlights the results that measure the impact of improved road quality on forest clearing through shorter transport times to market and lower vehicle maintenance costs. The estimated response parameters and a composite biodiversity indicator are used to compute an index of expected biodiversity loss from road upgrading in each 500meter cell. The results identify areas in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic where high expected biodiversity loss may warrant additional protection as road upgrading continues. This analysis will help policy makers in the country to weigh context-specific trade-offs between development and conservation objectives associated with road improvement.
format	Working Paper
author	Danyo, Stephen Dasgupta, Susmita Wheeler, David
author_facet	Danyo, Stephen Dasgupta, Susmita Wheeler, David
author_sort	Danyo, Stephen
title	Potential Forest Loss and Biodiversity Risks from Road Improvement in Lao PDR
title_short	Potential Forest Loss and Biodiversity Risks from Road Improvement in Lao PDR
title_full	Potential Forest Loss and Biodiversity Risks from Road Improvement in Lao PDR
title_fullStr	Potential Forest Loss and Biodiversity Risks from Road Improvement in Lao PDR
title_full_unstemmed	Potential Forest Loss and Biodiversity Risks from Road Improvement in Lao PDR
title_sort	potential forest loss and biodiversity risks from road improvement in lao pdr
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2018
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/977051535391124388/Potential-Forest-Loss-and-Biodiversity-Risks-from-Road-Improvement-in-Lao-PDR http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30321
_version_	1764471692358320128

Potential Forest Loss and Biodiversity Risks from Road Improvement in Lao PDR

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