Proceedings of the 17th International Academic Conference, Vienna

THE CHANGES OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES ACCESS IN THE SMALL FORESTRY MEDITERRANEAN ISLANDS: THE CASE STUDY OF SKIATHOS, GREECE

FANI SAMARA, STERGIOS TAMPEKIS, STAVROS SAKELLARIOU, OLGA CHRISTOPOULOU, ATHANASIOS SFOUGARIS,

Abstract:

It is known that island forests constitute rare and, at the same time, vulnerable ecosystems that express the complexity and the ecologic interactions of our planet. Ecosystems of island regions change at great speed and, in most cases, they are environmentally degraded. The right management of the natural assets of island forest regions and, at the same time, the socio-economic growth of human resources constitutes the only solution for the achievement of sustainable development. Sustainable management of forest resources can only be achieved through a well-organized road network based on spatial planning. The aim of this paper is to present the progress of the existing forest road network at the Island of Skiathos for the last decades. With the contribution of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and orthophotomaps, spatial planning of the forest road network can be evaluated for all these years and Road Density can also be calculated. Thematic maps of the forest roads, for each year separately, will also be presented. The current study explores the application of spatial planning in forest roads in order to achieve sustainable development with respect to nature assets and the landscape, in combination with viable forest exploitation.

Keywords: Island, Forest Roads, GIS, Road Density

DOI: 10.20472/IAC.2015.017.076

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