Establishing protected natural areas (PNA) has been one of the main policy mechanisms used for protecting flora and fauna species. However, in the last 18 years we have seen a sharp reduction in forest cover in Peru and this may have been exacerbated by the development of road infrastructure. Despite the accepted fact that roads can bring about socioeconomic benefits, it can also have negative environmental effects, such as deforestation. Using a difference in difference model with two treatments, we study the effectiveness of PNA to prevent deforestation in the presence of road infrastructure over panel data information. Our findings suggest that the expansion of the road network over the last decade has had an impact, increasing the rate of deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon. However, the increase in protected areas has partially neutralized this effect. On average, the approach of roads to within 10 km of the forests has been associated with reductions in forest coverage of around 7.1 km per 400 km². In spite of this, the simultaneous creation of protected areas has led to a reduction in the deforestation rate of around 6.5 km² per 400 km². It seems that regardless of the “deforestation” effect of roads, PNA fulfill their protective role.

建立自然保护区一直是保护动植物物种的主要政策机制之一。但是，在过去的18年中，我们看到秘鲁的森林覆盖率急剧下降，而道路基础设施的发展可能加剧了这种情况。尽管人们公认道路可以带来社会经济利益，但道路也会对环境造成负面影响，例如毁林。使用两种处理方法的差异模型中的差异，我们研究了在道路基础设施上存在面板数据信息的情况下，PNA防止森林砍伐的有效性。我们的发现表明，过去十年来道路网络的扩张产生了影响，从而增加了秘鲁亚马逊地区的森林砍伐率。然而，保护区的增加已部分抵消了这种影响。平均而言，道路通向森林10公里以内会导致森林覆盖率每400 km减少7.1 km²。尽管如此，保护区的同时创建以来导致的约6.5公里，森林砍伐率降低²每400公里²。看起来，不管道路的“森林砍伐”影响如何，PNA都可以发挥其保护作用。