Google Lat Long: Where the roads aren't

Where the roads aren't - and why it matters

June 25, 2012

Editor's note: Last week we published a series of blog posts about our activities at Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. The post below is by Rebecca Moore, manager of the Google Earth Outreach team.
MEP Kriton Arsenisaren’tThe concept of "roadless areas" is a well-established conservation measure coming from conservation biologists from all around the globe. The idea is that roads in most parts of the world lead to the unmanageable private access to the natural resources of an area, most often leading to ecosystem degradation and without the consent of the local and indigenous communities. Keeping an area roadless means that the specific territory is shielded against such exogenous pressures, thus sustaining its ecosystem services at the maximum possible level. An important tool which will drive environmental, development as well as global climate change policy forward will be the Google development of an interactive satellite map of the world's roadless areas.Start with where the Roads areGoogle Earth Engine