Save Earth's
last wild places
last wild places
Road building threatens our forests, natural habitats and the people who depend on them. With your help, we can keep wilderness RoadFree
It takes just one road
to destroy a forest
to destroy a forest
95% of forest loss occurs within
50 km of a road
50 km of a road
From the Amazon to Indonesian and Congo Basin forests, roads are penetrating deep into the wilderness.
Roads fragment natural habitats, degrade forest ecosystems, and put local communities and wildlife at risk
OUR INITIATIVES
Now viewing: Global Roadless Areas: 10 km buffer
The roadfree areas map is the fruit of collaboration between Google, the Society for Conservation Biology, and Member of the European Parliament and Rapporteur on forests, Kriton Arsenis. Most of the time we use maps to know which roads will get us from point A to point B, but the same information can help us produce a powerful tool for nature conservation.
Every green pixel of the map is at least 10km from the nearest road. It shows very concretely Earth’s terrestrial areas free of roads including forests, polar regions and deserts.
The situation is particularly dramatic in forest areas where the spread of road networks has fragmented natural habitats, endangering intact ecosystems and forest dependant populations.
To explore the roadfree map yourself, visit the Google Earth Engine Map Gallery.
Every green pixel of the map is at least 10km from the nearest road. It shows very concretely Earth’s terrestrial areas free of roads including forests, polar regions and deserts.
The situation is particularly dramatic in forest areas where the spread of road networks has fragmented natural habitats, endangering intact ecosystems and forest dependant populations.
To explore the roadfree map yourself, visit the Google Earth Engine Map Gallery.
Free of roads, full of biodiversity
Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have set ambitious targets (Aichi targets) to prevent dramatic biodiversity loss by 2020. Keeping forests road free, and preventing fragmentation of natural habitats, RoadFree contributes to achieving several of these Aichi targets:
- Target 3 to eliminate, phase out or reform harmful subsidies.
- Target 5 to halve and where feasible bring close to zero, the loss, degradation and fragmentation of natural habitats.
- Target 11 to conserve at least 17 per cent of terrestrial areas.
Free of roads, full of biodiversity
The UN programme aimed at Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) is often presented as a relatively cost-effective climate change mitigation strategy.
If done with the correct level of enforceable environmental and social safeguards, controls and regulations, this programme has the potential to protect biodiversity, people, and the climate.
The future of REDD+ is negotiated under various UNFCCC bodies and its future depends on the following points:
- Addressing drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries,
- Improving and enforcing safeguard measures related to forest governance and the respect of indigenous peoples rights,
- Establishing national modalities to forecast, measure, report, verify and compare (FMRVC) deforestation and forest degradation.
In tropical areas, satellite and land based data indicate that the opening of a new road through a forest is generally followed by the building of secondary roads (paved or unpaved) that will then trigger more degradation and deforestation (conversion to agriculture or ranching). Scientific reports agree on the fact that the majority of deforestation, fragmentation and forest degradation occurs in a “risk-zone” around infrastructure and access networks.
By promoting a global protection of roadless areas, RoadFree addresses roadbuilding as one of the major drivers of deforestation and forest degradation. The initiative also proposes to use existing roads and road development, as a negative performance indicator for the five activities encompassed by REDD+: deforestation, forest degradation, conservation, management, enhancement of forest carbon stock.
ROADFREE NEWS
A collection of updates from the RoadFree campaign as well as a selection of global news articles covering roadbuilding stories in the context of forest protection
BRUSSELS, 20 March 2014 – On the eve of the 2nd International Day of Forests on Friday, March 21st, scientists join MEP Kriton Arsenis in calling for an urgent response to the threats from road development to the world’s last intact primary forests.
Call To Keep Intact Forests Free Of Roads
Less than a third of Earth’s forests remain undisturbed by human activities [1]. Road building, often driven by industrial activities, is one of the main causes of intact forest loss. RoadFree, an initiative by Member of the European Parliament Kriton Arsenis, was specially created to address this issue [2].
“95% of forest loss occurs within 50 km of a road [3]. Scientific reports and satellite imagery have demonstrated road building is a major driver of deforestation from the Amazon to Indonesian and Congo Basin forests. Keeping our last intact forests free of roads is a cost-efficient way to protect the climate, halt biodiversity loss and keep illegal traffickers at bay”, says Kriton Arsenis.
William Laurance, Distinguished Research Professor and Australian Laureate at James Cook University in Australia, says: "Roads are often fatal for forests and other native ecosystems. They open up a Pandora's Box of environmental problems, such as illegal deforestation, colonisation, hunting, mining, and land speculation. It's a global crisis—roads are rapidly penetrating into the world's last surviving wildernesses, and we have to do something to stop it."
Citing the central importance of intact forests in protecting the diversity of life on Earth, Dr. Dominick DellaSala, President and Chief Scientist of the Geos Institute, says: "The world's dwindling intact, roadless forests are an irreplaceable well-spring of life that supports such magnificent species as endangered tigers of the Russian Far East, endangered gorillas of Africa's Congo Basin, wild salmon of British Columbia, and centuries old trees from Sumatra to Tasmania to Amazonia to North America to Chile. Protecting intact forests is critical to a safe climate and clean water that these forests uniquely provide to people.”
Noting the critical role intact forests play in addressing the worsening global climate change crisis and supporting livelihoods of forest-dependent people, Dr. Sean Foley, Chairman of The Samdhana Institute comments: “Intact forests store vast amounts of carbon, most of which is contained in large, old trees. Keeping these forests intact and free of roads not only prevents dangerous carbon dioxide emissions, it also preserves the homes and livelihoods of tens of millions of indigenous peoples around the world, and helps them adapt to a rapidly changing climate.”
On the particular role of industrial logging in intact forests Dr. Barbara Zimmerman, Director of the Kayapo Project with the International Conservation Fund of Canada says: "Road building, associated with industrial logging in the tropics, is almost always the first step towards destruction of forests. High-value timber species are completely extirpated, leading to degradation of primary forest to a state from which it is impossible to recover or at best, its regeneration is severely depressed [4].”
“We now have new tools to monitor the state of forests in almost real time and to identify the remaining road free areas around the world so we have a good idea of what needs to be protected. Keeping these intact forests road free is critically important”, says Arsenis.
He adds: “While forest protection is enshrined into various International agreements, this ambition would not be complete without a real commitment to save world’s last intact roadfree forests. This is a challenge for both the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UN General Assembly when deciding on the post 2015 agendas [5]”.
For satellite images of roads spreading through intact and forest images CLICK HERE:
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Kriton Arsenis, Member of the European Parliament, RoadFree Initiative.
+32 22833537 kriton.arsenis@europarl.europa.eu
William Laurance is Distinguished Research Professor and Australian Laureate at James Cook University in Australia, and also holds the Prince Bernhard Chair in International Nature Conservation at Utrecht University, Netherlands. bill.laurance@jcu.edu.au
Dr. Dominick DellaSala, President and Chief Scientist, Geos Institute. 84 Fourth St. Ashland, OR 97520, United States +1 541-482-4459 ext. 302 dominick@geosinstitute.org
Dr. Sean Foley, Fellow & Chairman of the Board, The Samdhana Institute, Jalan Guntur No. 32, Bogor 16151 Indonesia +62 811 199-7560 o / +856 20 5872-0379 m sean@samdhana.org
Dr. Barbara Zimmerman, Director Kayapo Project International Conservation Fund of Canada, +1 416 487 0879. B.zimmerman@wild.org.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] M.C. Hansen et al., High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st-Century Forest Cover Change. Science 134, 2011–2014 (November 2913).
[2] RoadFree Initiative http://www.roadfree.org and roadfree.org/#film were launched during the UN Climate conference in Warsaw in November 2013.
[3] Laurance WF, et al. Environment. The future of the Brazilian Amazon. Science. 2001;291:438–439.
[4] B.L. Zimmerman and C.F. Kormos, Prospects for Sustainable Logging in Tropical Forests. BioScience 62, 479–487 (2012).
[5] Get REDD+ Right by Keeping Forests Free of Roads http://roadfree.org/press-area/cop19-roadfree-initiative-challenges-redd-to-keep-roads-out-of-intact-forests
“95% of forest loss occurs within 50 km of a road [3]. Scientific reports and satellite imagery have demonstrated road building is a major driver of deforestation from the Amazon to Indonesian and Congo Basin forests. Keeping our last intact forests free of roads is a cost-efficient way to protect the climate, halt biodiversity loss and keep illegal traffickers at bay”, says Kriton Arsenis.
William Laurance, Distinguished Research Professor and Australian Laureate at James Cook University in Australia, says: "Roads are often fatal for forests and other native ecosystems. They open up a Pandora's Box of environmental problems, such as illegal deforestation, colonisation, hunting, mining, and land speculation. It's a global crisis—roads are rapidly penetrating into the world's last surviving wildernesses, and we have to do something to stop it."
Citing the central importance of intact forests in protecting the diversity of life on Earth, Dr. Dominick DellaSala, President and Chief Scientist of the Geos Institute, says: "The world's dwindling intact, roadless forests are an irreplaceable well-spring of life that supports such magnificent species as endangered tigers of the Russian Far East, endangered gorillas of Africa's Congo Basin, wild salmon of British Columbia, and centuries old trees from Sumatra to Tasmania to Amazonia to North America to Chile. Protecting intact forests is critical to a safe climate and clean water that these forests uniquely provide to people.”
Noting the critical role intact forests play in addressing the worsening global climate change crisis and supporting livelihoods of forest-dependent people, Dr. Sean Foley, Chairman of The Samdhana Institute comments: “Intact forests store vast amounts of carbon, most of which is contained in large, old trees. Keeping these forests intact and free of roads not only prevents dangerous carbon dioxide emissions, it also preserves the homes and livelihoods of tens of millions of indigenous peoples around the world, and helps them adapt to a rapidly changing climate.”
On the particular role of industrial logging in intact forests Dr. Barbara Zimmerman, Director of the Kayapo Project with the International Conservation Fund of Canada says: "Road building, associated with industrial logging in the tropics, is almost always the first step towards destruction of forests. High-value timber species are completely extirpated, leading to degradation of primary forest to a state from which it is impossible to recover or at best, its regeneration is severely depressed [4].”
“We now have new tools to monitor the state of forests in almost real time and to identify the remaining road free areas around the world so we have a good idea of what needs to be protected. Keeping these intact forests road free is critically important”, says Arsenis.
He adds: “While forest protection is enshrined into various International agreements, this ambition would not be complete without a real commitment to save world’s last intact roadfree forests. This is a challenge for both the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UN General Assembly when deciding on the post 2015 agendas [5]”.
For satellite images of roads spreading through intact and forest images CLICK HERE:
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Kriton Arsenis, Member of the European Parliament, RoadFree Initiative.
+32 22833537 kriton.arsenis@europarl.europa.eu
William Laurance is Distinguished Research Professor and Australian Laureate at James Cook University in Australia, and also holds the Prince Bernhard Chair in International Nature Conservation at Utrecht University, Netherlands. bill.laurance@jcu.edu.au
Dr. Dominick DellaSala, President and Chief Scientist, Geos Institute. 84 Fourth St. Ashland, OR 97520, United States +1 541-482-4459 ext. 302 dominick@geosinstitute.org
Dr. Sean Foley, Fellow & Chairman of the Board, The Samdhana Institute, Jalan Guntur No. 32, Bogor 16151 Indonesia +62 811 199-7560 o / +856 20 5872-0379 m sean@samdhana.org
Dr. Barbara Zimmerman, Director Kayapo Project International Conservation Fund of Canada, +1 416 487 0879. B.zimmerman@wild.org.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] M.C. Hansen et al., High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st-Century Forest Cover Change. Science 134, 2011–2014 (November 2913).
[2] RoadFree Initiative http://www.roadfree.org and roadfree.org/#film were launched during the UN Climate conference in Warsaw in November 2013.
[3] Laurance WF, et al. Environment. The future of the Brazilian Amazon. Science. 2001;291:438–439.
[4] B.L. Zimmerman and C.F. Kormos, Prospects for Sustainable Logging in Tropical Forests. BioScience 62, 479–487 (2012).
[5] Get REDD+ Right by Keeping Forests Free of Roads http://roadfree.org/press-area/cop19-roadfree-initiative-challenges-redd-to-keep-roads-out-of-intact-forests
WHO WE ARE
RoadFree aims to halt the expansion of roads into Earth's last wild places.
RoadFree was initiated in 2012 by the environmentalist Kriton Arsenis, who was then the European Parliament's rapporteur on forest protection. It functions as a platform to facilitate synergies between citizen movements, NGOs and institutions who have chosen cost-efficient solutions to protect the environment.
We invite you to be a part of the effort.
RoadFree was initiated in 2012 by the environmentalist Kriton Arsenis, who was then the European Parliament's rapporteur on forest protection. It functions as a platform to facilitate synergies between citizen movements, NGOs and institutions who have chosen cost-efficient solutions to protect the environment.
We invite you to be a part of the effort.
With thanks to…
- Greenpeace
- Society for Conservation Biology
- Conservation International
CONTACT US
If you'd like to get in touch you can either email us info@roadfree.org or use the form below:
