Rio +20 brings in a new landscape for the protection of global Roadless Areas

A major step towards the protection of the world's roadless areas was one of the fruits of the Rio+20 Summit. For the first time, roadless areas were mapped globally and presented to the public. The European Parliament's Rapporteur on Forests, MEP Kriton Arsenis, UNEP, IUCN, the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB), and the Indigenous Peoples' International Centre for Policy Research and Education, Tebtebba joined forces to co-organize a side event aimed at putting the protection of roadless areas in the heart of the international environmental debate. Two interactive maps of the world's remaining roadless areas were presentedby Google and the European Environmental Agency. These maps reveal areas which remain insulated from the uncontrolled human pressure exerted by roads on natural resources and they pave the way for global action towards the protection of biodiversity in a cost efficientand effective way.

The Google Earth maps of roadless areas can be found at http://earthengine.google.org/#state=gallery

EEA's Eye on Earth maps will soon be available publicly.