This is Nuria Selva's presentation during the special wilderness research seminar during the 3rd European Conference on Conservation Biology (Glasgow, August 2012). Nuria uses the roadless area initiative to try locating (potential) wilderness areas in Europe.

1. Roadless Areas: a potential tool to define
European Wilderness Areas
Nuria Selva, Stefan Kreft, Vassiliki Kati, Bengt-Gunnar Jonsson, Pierre L. Ibisch
Policy Committee- SCB Europe Section
Institute of Nature Conservation (Poland), Centre for Econics and Ecosystem Management, Eberswalde
(Germany), University of Ioannina (Greece), Dpt of Natural Sciences, Engineering & Mathematics (Sweden)

2. “The tragic paradox of the white
man’s encroachment. The deeper
he went into Africa, the faster life
flowed out of it, off the plains, and
out of bush and into the cities”
Peter Beard “The end of the game” 1965

3. Initiatives at the policy level - 2009
Ecosystem services
Conservation value
Climate change
Sustainable use

4. Wilderness definition
Uncultivated Natural areas
Uninhabited No noise
Undisturbed No light pollution
Empty Abundant wildlife
Pathless Diverse
Remote
Abandoned
Unsettled

5. Wilderness Act
Roadless Areas Conservation Rule

6. A wilderness is an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining
its primeval character and influence, without permanent
improvements or human habitation, which is protected and
managed so as to preserve its natural conditions and which
1) generally appears to have been affected primarily by the
forces of nature, with the imprint of man's work
substantially unnoticeable;
2) has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and
unconfined type of recreation;
3) has at least five thousand acres of land or is of sufficient size
as to make practicable its preservation and use in an
unimpaired condition; and
4) may also contain ecological, geological, or other features of
scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value.

7. What is Wilderness?
o Not (significantly) modified by human activities
o Natural habitat
o Large enough
o Ecosystem services
Roadless and low-traffic areas

8. Roadless Areas Initiative-
Policy Committee SCB-ES

9. Roadless Areas – biodiversity conservation
• Preservation of native biodiversity
• Barrier against invasive species
• Preservation of genetic resources
• Maintenance of ecosystem connectivity and integrity
• Ensure habitat for viability of populations
• Provide migration corridors and stopovers

10. Roadless Areas – ecosystem services
• Water regulation and supply
• Erosion control
• Air quality
• Climate regulation
• Disease control (e.g. Lyme disease)
• Pollination of crops
• High resilience to pest outbreak
•Recreation

11. Roadless Areas – climate change
• High resilience and buffering capacity
• Protection against catastrophic events
(e.g. fires, landslides, floods)
• Carbon sequestration and decrease of
greenhouse gases effects

12. Roadless Areas Initiative- Rio+20 Conference
http://earthengine.google.org
this proof-of-concept global map displays in a green-gradient
all areas of land that are more than one (or 10) kilometer from
the nearest road, rail or navigable waterway.

13. Mapping Global Roadless Areas

14. Global Roadless Areas- 10 km buffer
http://earthengine.google.org

15. Global Roadless Areas- 1 km buffer
http://earthengine.google.org

16. Global Roadless Areas- 1 km buffer
http://earthengine.google.org

17. Global Roadless Areas- 1 km buffer
http://earthengine.google.org

19. Roadless areas in the Polish Carpathians

20. Roadless areas in the Polish Carpathians

21. Conclusions
Roadless and low-traffic areas are a proxy for relatively
undisturbed areas
Roadlessness is an essential component of wilderness
Criteria and thresholds being developed
Which size? Which habitat?
Which roads and traffic? Which ecoregion?
Which shape?

22. THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION!