Transport investment in Mozambique has created a dual outcome, as improved transportation infrastructure (roads and rail) facilitates increased access to transport services for people (passengers) and goods (business products) but also increases the level of environmental stress on the surrounding forests. Reporting on improvements in transportation infrastructure (known as the Nacala Corridor) shows that the initial stages of this corridor are already experiencing increases in deforestation due to road and rail expansion, agricultural activity, illegal logging, and the degradation of mangrove forests.
The issue of environmental stress is significant because Mozambique is one of the most forested countries in southern Africa, but its forest area has been increasingly under stress for some time. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), since 2000, Mozambique has been experiencing increased rates of deforestation and forest degradation, with unsustainable forms of agricultural production and timber extraction being the primary causes. That means that the areas with improved access are also likely to be the first places where increased pressure will result.
The main issue with how roads can develop and increase access to other areas is that once opened, they can allow access deep into the forest, creating an effortless route for logging, hunting, and farming activities to expand beyond the initial corridor. Evidence from the research on tropical logging roads indicates that they can also lead to increased risks of fire and soil erosion, invasion by foreign species, and increased pressure from hunting as well as later to the conversion of the forests into agricultural land when a transport corridor becomes a permanent transport route.
An additional issue for the forests of Mozambique is the relationship between the law and the illegal use of natural resources. Research on the country’s timber industry supports the idea that logging illegally includes cutting trees without permission, taking more timber than allowed, and transporting or exporting tree species that are prohibited or restricted by law. The transportation infrastructure in Mozambique is very important because improved access will facilitate legal trade, but it will also enable the movement of illegally obtained timber and increase the extent of destructive land use.
The ultimate challenge for Mozambique is to construct new roads instead of allowing deforested areas to be developed into roads during the construction process. The success of road-building in Mozambique will determine the country’s future. Infrastructure should be matched with other things, such as a better government, land use planning, and the protection of forests, which will keep the growth rate below the ability of the government to manage it.
