Congo Basin forest roads

Road development in tropical forests of the Congo Basin is mapped in high detail, based on Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery and a deep learning model. The up-to-date road maps are openly available and can offer valuable information for forest conservation and management purposes.

Road development in tropical forests, mainly driven by the selective logging industry, can have major ecological and climate impacts, but the extent of road networks in remote forests has remained largely unknown. The Congo Basin forest road map reveals all road networks established during the last years (from 2019 onwards). This can be used as a basis to study the impacts of logging operations, monitor and prevent illegal forest activities, and improve our understanding of human impacts on tropical forests at large scale.

The Congo Basin forest road map is the result of an advanced detection method based on Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery and a deep learning model. The Sentinel-2 optical sensors provide detailed imagery during clear weather conditions, while the Sentinel-1 radar sensors can ‘see through’ clouds during persistent rainy seasons in the tropics. In this way, the opening of commonly narrow and transient road segments can be precisely located on a monthly basis. The map covers road development in tropical moist forests in the six Congo Basin countries Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Republic of the Congo.

Data visualization in Google Earth Engine

https://nrtwur.users.earthengine.app/view/forest-roads

CongoBasin2.png

Data access and download

All links direct to the latest version (v1.02) of the dataset. The following versions exist:

  • v1.01: Forest roads developed between January 2019 and December 2022 (presented in Slagter et al., 2024)
  • v1.02: Forest roads developed between January 2019 and December 2023 (the first dataset update, including an extra year)

Dataset reference and license

Slagter B., Fesenmyer K., Hethcoat M., Belair E., Ellis P., Kleinschroth F., Peña-Claros M., Herold M., Reiche J. (2024). Monitoring road development in Congo Basin forests with multi-sensor satellite imagery and deep learning. Remote Sensing of Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2024.114380

The data is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License and may be used by anyone, anywhere, anytime without permission or royalty payment. Attribution using the appropriate citation is requested.

Credit

The Congo Basin forest road dataset is produced by researchers of Wageningen University & Research and The Nature Conservancy. This research was funded by Wageningen University’s graduate school PE&RC and the Bezos Earth Fund.