EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BACKS THE PROTECTION OF ROADFREE AREAS

Posted by Nuria Selva, SCB Policy Committee

Press release - October 24, 2013


Strasbourg -The European Parliament has backed two proposals by MEP Kriton Arsenis to take action against the construction of new roads in intact forests.


With the October 23rd adoption of the Motion for a Resolution [1] on the climate change conference in Warsaw, Poland (COP 19), the European Parliament has agreed to raise the issue of roadbuilding in intact forests at the UN Climate Change Conference to be held next month in Warsaw (Poland); it calls on parties to use the existence of roads in forest areas as an early negative performance indicator of REDD+ projects, and to prioritise the allocation of REDD+ funds towards road free forests.


At the same time, the European Parliament has decided to allocate 1.2 Million Euros for further research on the benefits of protecting road free intact forests. The pilot project [2] which was approved on October 23rd will be implemented within 2014 and will finance the production of up-to-date global maps of roadfree areas on the basis of the best spatial data available, and the creation of a prediction model of deforestation and forest degradation based on the existence of roads in a forest. The research program is expected to lead to a set of innovative recommendations for better forest governance.

Commenting on the outcome of the vote, MEP Kriton Arsenis [3] said:


"It takes just one road to destroy a forest. More than 95% of deforestation, fires and atmospheric carbon emissions in the Brazilian Amazon occur within 50 kilometres of a road [4]. I am proud to see the European Parliament being the first political institution to address this issue. This decision marks an important step towards the recognition of the impacts of roadbuilding on the Earth's last intact forest areas and the necessity to keep these areas free of roads ".


He added: "In times when funding for environmental protection is scarce, keeping intact forests free of roads is a remarkably cost efficient way of protecting biodiversity, and fighting climate change and an antidote to slow political decision making".



Notes:

[1] Motion for a Resolution on the climate change conference in Warsaw, Poland (COP 19): Amendments 1 and 2

[2] Compromise package for Pilot Projects and Preparatory Actions 2014: Amendments 404, 544 " Making efficient use of EU climate finance - using roads as an early performance indicator"


[3] Kriton Arsenis is Member of the European Parliament since 2009. He has promoted the protection of road free forests at international conferences since 2012, including co-organising events at the Rio+20 Summit and at the 11th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Hyderabad, along with partners such as Google, UNEP, IUCN, the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB), European Environmental Agency (EEA), and the Indigenous Peoples' International Centre for Policy Research and Education, Tebtebba. http://kritonarsenis.gr/

[4] William F. Laurance and Andrew Balmford. A global map for road building. 308 | NATURE | VOL 495 | 21 MARCH 2013

Contact:
Nathalie Parès, political advisor, +32 (0)4 93 50 43 30, nathalie.pares@europarl.europa.eu

Roadless in Baltimore

Report from the ICCB2013 symposium

Representatives of the Society for Conservation Biology - Europe Section participated in a symposium on ‘roadless areas’ as important target areas for biodiversity conservation in Baltimore, USA. The symposium was part of the biennial International Congress for Conservation Biology 2013, celebrated at the Baltimore Convention Center, from 21 to 25 July, and was organized by Dominick de la Salla, president of the North American section of SCB. Further SCB sections represented were Australia, Latin America and Caribbean, as well as the Marine section.

Speakers of the Roadless Symposium in ICCB2013

Nuria Selva and Pierre Ibisch, both members of the Policy Committee of the Europe Section, delivered papers on the European perspective on roadless areas and biodiversity and on a first assessment of the global roadless areas. The presentations were a result of an ongoing cooperation with Google and Kriton Arsenis, Member of the European Parliament. Kriton Arsenis contributed a video message to the symposium, and once more proved that worldwide he is the leading politician striving for a better conservation of roadless areas. Rebecca Moore presented the contribution by Google to the project. At Google, Rebecca conceived and leads the Google Earth Outreach program, and initiated and leads the development of Google Earth Engine. 

The talk given by Nuria, co-authored by members of the European SCB Policy Committee, Kriton Arsenis and Google staff, summarized conceptual findings highlighting the opportunities for embracing roadless areas conservation in Europe, and also presented recently published results (index for mapping road impacts; publication in Landscape ecology; state of roadless areas conservation in Europe). 

Pierre’s paper, also co-authored by members of the European SCB Policy Committee, Kriton Arsenis and Google staff, presented new results to be published in the near future. For the first time, roadless areas are assessed on all continents. Among others, coverage of functional ecosystems, biomes and protected areas were analysed. Less than 4% of the roadless areas are protected by strict reserves, such as wilderness areas or national parks (IUCN categories I + II); best coverage has been achieved in North America.

Pierre L. Ibisch & Nuria Selva

Symposium abstract

Roadless and Low Density-Transportation Networks as Permeable Landscapes and Seascapes [Part I]
23 July
Organizer: DellaSala, D., Geos Institute

A vast network of roads and marine highways crisscrosses the planet, transporting people and goods over global distances with substantial environmental impacts. For instance, the ecological footprint of roads is known to extend up to a kilometer on either side of an individual road (road effect zone) with cumulative effects of dense road networks in some regions impacting up to 15-20% of total surface area (e.g., continental USA). Marine transportation networks and associated ship transport lanes also create migration and other problems for wildlife, including acoustic pollution and collision-related mortality. In contrast, areas with low road densities and/or low-traffic volume (marine and terrestrial) and those with no roads (e.g., roadless areas in the USA, South America, Asia, Africa) are a conservation priority globally because they provide habitat for road-adverse wildlife, have characteristic ecological processes, are relatively resistant to weed invasions, act as strongholds for aquatic species, and provide climatic refugia. In some terrestrial regions (e.g., western Europe), only low-density roads with low traffic volume remain and these areas are building blocks for re-wilding landscapes. This symposium will provide a global synthesis of impacts of vast transportation networks and a region by region and a global synthesis on the importance of intact areas showcasing new intactness and human footprint technologies.

Protecting Roadless Areas: Meeting the Nagoya targets in a cost efficient and effective way

PRESS RELEASE

Hyderabad, India, 18 October 2012

A cost efficient and effective solution in meeting the Aichi biodiversity protection targets is gaining momentum in the international debate. In times when funding for biodiversity conservation is scarce, the cost minimizing solution of protecting our world's remaining roadless areas arises as a way out from biodiversity protection deadlocks. 

Areas which have remained roadless, despite not being officially protected, have achieved a high level of protection because of the reduced human pressure exerted on their resources. Avoiding the construction of roads in these areas is the most cost efficient and effective way for protecting biodiversity. Keeping areas roadless does not mean keeping them inaccessible and disconnected. Roadless areas may be accessed and connected through railways, river ways and airways, i.e. by transport means which exert far less human pressure on natural resources. 


 The issue was brought up in the COP 11 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), where an official side event was organised by the European Parliament's Rapporteur on Forests, MEP Kriton Arsenis, UNEP, IUCN, Conservation International (CI), the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB), and the Indigenous Peoples' International Centre for Policy Research and Education, Tebtebba, and which was supported by Google, the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the Global Canopy Programme (GCP).

During the side event, Google and the European Environment Agency presented the latest results of their ongoing project to prepare interactive maps of the world's remaining roadless areas. The objective of these maps is threefold: to generate incentives for the protection of such areas, to avoid the financing of destructive roads in threatened pockets of thriving life, and to provide international policy makers with a useful instrument for effective regulation towards biodiversity conservation.

The Google Earth maps of roadless areas can be found at:

http://earthengine.google.org/#intro/Roadless10km

http://earthengine.google.org/#intro/Roadless1km

EEA's Eye on Earth maps can be found at: 

http://eyeonearth.org/templates/EoEBasic/?webmap=c35a744a6f7348d38133e937f4c9aaad 

More material on the presentations and speeches can be found at: http://kritonarsenis.gr/actions/view/Roadlessness--way-to-protect-biodiverity

The side event was entitled "Roadless areas: The most cost efficient and effective way to protect biodiversity" and the panel comprised of Mr. Trevor Sandwith (Director of Global Protected Areas Programme, IUCN), Mr. Russ Mittermeier (President of Conservation International, CI) and Mr. Thierry Lucas (Research Project Manager and Policy Advisor, UNEP). 

In addition, Mrs. Jacqueline McGlade (Executive Director of the European Environment Agency, EEA) and Ms. Rebecca Moore (Engineering Manager for Google Earth Outreach and Google Earth Engine) participated through a televised message. 

Following the event, MEP Kriton Arsenis made the following statement: “Only few millions of Euros/dollars are available for biodiversity protection. At the same time, numerous trillions are generated from and directed to activities with a negative impact on biodiversity. It is clear that we have to use these limited financial resources efficiently. My support for the roadless areas concept comes from the very fact that from an economic point of view it just makes sense to protect areas where biodiversity has remained intact and where there is no need to direct extra financial resources. All we have to do is merely avoid destructive investments on road construction.”

Mr. Mittermeier from Conservation International, announced that "the Roadless Wilderness Initiative, led by Kriton Arsenis, is one of the most important conservation efforts in the world.  If we are really serious about conserving biodiversity and maintaining at least a small portion of our natural world in its original condition, with fully intact faunal and floral assemblages, it will likely be in areas without roads.  This initiative ties in very well with what we have been trying to achieve with our High Biodiversity Wilderness Areas in high priority tropical forest regions such as the Guiana Shield region of northern South America, but it also is applicable in the other biomes as well, especially in the far northern systems like the tundra and the boreal forests, in the desert regions of the world, and elsewhere.  CI is pleased to be a partner in this endeavor."

On behalf of IUCN Mr. Sandwith proclaimed that “roadless areas coincide with some of the world’s most important areas for conserving biodiversity and the associated cultures and lifestyles of indigenous peoples. Maintaining connectivity within systems of protected areas is essential for coping with climate change, and roadless areas will contribute significantly to allowing species to move in response to climate. Roadless areas can contribute to this as they can prevent the direct effects of roads on fragmentation. Key to this is the recognition of the fact that indigenous communities - through their conservation efforts - are ensuring the effective protection of many of these areas”.

Mr. Lucas praised this initiative, and UNEP, with its cooperation with the European Environment Agency on Eye on Earth, looks forward to it coming to fruition. In this regard, the development of SDGs offer an opportunity, as roadless areas permit us to look into how the natural capital they provide for current and next generations can be valued and reflected in future SDGs.

Mrs. McGlade on behalf of EEA stated that “during the last century the world has faced more ecosystem destruction than at any other time in human history.  In Europe, there has been more habitat fragmentation than on any other continent – yet there are still pockets of truly wild habitats, far away from roads, which can provide a refuge for some of our most threatened species.  Mapping the course of fragmentation and the connectivity between natural areas by seeing where roads are being constructed and used will help us protect species, habitats, genetic resources and life on planet Earth in the coming centuries.”

Ms. Rebecca Moore on behalf of Google stated that "Google Maps and Google Earth are used by more than a billion people each month to help them see and understand the world we live in. Just as it's important to map the roads and highways that can take people to their destinations, it's also crucial to accurately represent the roadless areas of our planet in order to protect biodiversity and enable conservation. We hope that these initial Global Roadless Area Maps we've created can help everyone easily comprehend how few large roadless areas still remain on earth, and convey the importance of this policy initiative.”

 Mr. Mitchell from the Global Canopy Programme stated that "roadless areas are one of the simplest means of identifying areas where the footprint of human impacts remains light. Such an indicator is needed because it can offer decision makers a clear delineation of pristine parts of our planet which can offer, especially in major tropical forested regions, ecosystem services worth US$ trillions annually. Roads are often the vanguard of change in these areas, leading to destruction of natural capital on which future development and prosperity elsewhere, such as agriculture and hydropower depends. Roads across rainforests are a double-edged sword. For poor communities, they can offer real benefits by connecting their goods to market, but unwelcome guests often come the other way in the form of alien species of plants and diseases which invade and upset a former natural balance and worse, hordes of migrants, often with little knowledge of how to live in the forests, except by cutting them down, destroying the lives of the communities the roads are intended to improve."

Mrs. Nuria Selva, on behalf of the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB), expressed the following view: "Keeping areas road-free is key to maintain biodiversity and ecosystem services provided to societies; they are protected de facto. Roadless areas are especially relevant to conserve sensitive and endangered species, as well as species requiring large tracts of habitat, such as bears or elephants. They are well-known aquatic strongholds for salmonids and other fish species and a significant refuge for native wildlife and plants. Roadless areas serve also as a barrier against pests, diseases and invasive species. They are more resistant to catastrophic events, like floods or fires, and can support species and ecosystems to adapt to new conditions due to climate change. Experience shows that whenever new roads provide access to formerly remote or roadless areas, the pressure on the ecosystem is increasing rapidly. Even when accompanying conservation measures are taken, the negative impacts of roads cannot be effectively mitigated. Roads have what we call “contagion effect”, which is especially virulent in developing countries. Roads are followed by human developments and pioneering colonies, produce changes in land-use and the local socioeconomic models, and have continuously accelerated deforestation and other forms of biodiversity degradation."

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For more info please contact:

Office of MEP Kriton Arsenis

E-mail: kriton.arsenis@europarl.europa.eu,

Tel: + 32 (0)2 28 47873

Roadless areas - side event today at CBD COP 11 Meeting

UPDATE: PRESS RELEASE 

The Eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 11; 8 - 19 October 2012 - Hyderabad, India) is currently ongoing. The concept of 'Roadlessness' which is one of the focal issues of the SCB Europe Section, will be also presented as a side event hosted by MEP Kriton Arsenis. 

"ROADLESSNESS - THE MOST COST EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE WAY TO PROTECT BIODIVERSITY:

Roadlessness of wilderness areas and natural ecosystems is the absense of roads, which are linked to deforestation, natural systems degradation, natural resources exploitation and biodiversity loss. Preserving an area roadless is one of the best ways to safeguard ecosystems services and biodiversity."

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

(Press release)

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 presented byGoogle and the European Environmental Agency. These maps reveal areas which remain insulated from the uncontrolled human pressure exerted by roads on natural resources and theypave the way for global action towards the protection of biodiversity in a cost efficient and 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

The keynote speakers of the event "No Roads to a Green Economy; Mapping the Earth's Roadless Areas and their Services" included Mrs. Jacqueline McGlade (Executive Director of the European Environment Agency), Mrs. Rebecca Moore (Engineering Manager for Google Earth Outreach and the Google Earth Engine), Mr. Chris Vander Bilcke (Head of UNEP Liaison Office to the EU), Mrs. Cyriaque Sendashonga (Head of IUCN's Global Policy Unit), Mrs. Mariana Vale (President of the Latin American branch of SCB), and Mr. Marcos Mariani (President of the Brazilian NGO Preserve Amazonia).

Following the release of the two interactive global roadless maps MEP Kriton Arsenis made the following statement: “Now we all know where the world's remaining roadless areas lie. From today onwards we have no excuse for inaction. These interactive maps are tangible instruments in the hands of international policy makers for cost efficient and effective protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services, for the protection of indigenous people's rights and for paving the way towards a green economy.”

Mrs. McGlade on behalf of EEA commenting on the next steps of the roadless areas endeavour said that "we need to do more than showing where the roads are. We have to be able to create an understanding of how roads serve the people but also divide the landscape. In Eye on Earth, improving understanding of such environmental trade-offs is what we do."

Ms. Rebecca Moore on behalf of Google noted that "having now produced this proof-of-concept map (using our Google Earth Engine technology), anyone can easily comprehend how few large roadless areas actually remain on Earth.   It is quite striking and conveys the importance of this policy initiative. We look forward to continuing this collaboration and refining the map as science and policy formulations evolve.  We hope it can help to turn the concept of “Roadless Areas” into something concrete and useful to policymakers, scientists and communities around the world."

On behalf of IUCN Mrs. Cyrie Sendashonga connected roadless areas to the Aichi targets agreed in Nagoya. She stated that “roadless areas are important contribution to reaching the Aichi Target 11 of 17% of terrestrial ecosystems under a system of protected areas. IUCN is promoting all efforts to reach this target and we are developing a number of tools to assist in this endeavour, including the concept of “Key Biodiversity Areas” to allow policy and decision-makers and resource managers to make choices on where to set up such conservation areas to ensure broad coverage of all important components of biodiversity."

Mrs. Mariana Vale from SCB brought interesting examples from Europe on the impacts of roads on the remaining wildlife and stressed out that "with the road network stretching through almost every corner of the planet, habitat fragmentation by transport infrastructures, and consequential secondary development, is one of the most serious global threats to biodiversity. Large patches of roadless areas are rare in the planet. They render vital ecosystem services to society like clean water, clean air, protection against invasive species, pests and diseases, and represent a buffer against climate change. Let's protect these last remaining roadless areas."

Complementing, Mr. Marcos Mariani from NGO Preserve Amazonia pointed out “how the possibility and opportunity for the implementation of clean development mechanisms and of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases using REDD+ projects, makes clear how important it is to preserve intact roadless areas, where the unrestricted access to natural resources and biodiversity must be treated very carefully. Avoiding and restricting in these areas the construction of new highways and roads, which represent a huge and dangerous risk to their integrity, especially in the Amazon rainforest, is certainly one of the most important and effective environmental action to be made today on the planet, making less drastic the effects of climate changes and their consequences for humanity and for all other living creatures that inhabit and depend on it”

Mrs. Victoria Tauli-Corpuz from Tebtebba, expressed the view of the indigenous peoples through her statement: We, the indigenous peoples, are also directly affected by road projects, in both negative and positive ways. I would like to reiterate, therefore,  that any infrastructure project which is implemented in our territories, need to respect our rights to our lands, territories and resources (Article 26, UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) . It should be noted that there are those among us, who would still prefer to be in voluntary isolation and bringing in road projects will violate their right to stay in isolation. In this context, it is important to remind states, private corporations and banks who provide loans for such projects, that they cannot just ram through a road project in indigenous peoples' territories unless their free, prior and informed consent is obtained. Social, environmental and human rights impact studies should be done, jointly with us, before any road project is conceived of and implemented in our territories."