Amazon Deforestation Models: Challenging the Only- Roads Approach

The enormous potential impact of Amazon deforestation calls for qualified and comprehensive assessments of the factors affecting it. Predictions presented by Laurance et al. [4][5] are based on the assumption that the road infrastructure is the prime factor driving deforestation. We consider this an over-simplified view, given the diversity of immediate and subjacent conditions that influence the location and the rates of land use change in a very heterogeneous region. The simple extrapolation of past patterns of change, disregarding the region’s biophysical and socioeconomic diversity, leads to policy recommendations that are unable to deal with the real factors affecting Amazon deforestation [1].