North American Species of Common Conservation Concern

Commission for Environmental Cooperation

http://www.cec.org

This visually informative KML illustrates terrestrial and marine species distribution across North America. By selecting the names of the species, you can view range maps (represented by polygons) to clearly show where they are found. To add to the information available, each species folder provides a placemark description balloon where you can learn more. All of this information is made available inside Google Earth allowing you to explore the many wonderful and unique creatures of our planet, all in a rich geospatial environment.

http://earth.google.com/gallery/images/small/cec_sccc_sm.jpg

http://earth.google.com/gallery/images/large/cec_sccc_lg.jpg

Open in Google Earth

Urban Ecology - The East Bay Greenway

Urban Ecology

http://www.urbanecology.org

This KML explores urban planning in the East Bay area of San Francisco, California and was created by Urban Ecology; a non profit organization who specialize in promoting "healthy" urban planning. In viewing this KML, you will see photographs, descriptions and overlays annotated on top of the Earth to present a more understandable and easily accessible account of what Urban Ecology are doing - and where.

http://earth.google.com/gallery/images/small/urbanecology_east_bay_sm.jpg

http://earth.google.com/gallery/images/large/urbanecology_east_bay_lg.jpg

Open in Google Earth

Endangered Languages of Africa and the Americas

The Rosetta Project / The Long Now Foundation

http://www.rosettaproject.org/

Connecting you with the world's diverse cultures is this KML layer produced by The Rosetta Project / The Long Now Foundation. Around the world, a significant part of cultural diversity is experienced through language. It is feared that many of the languages, and therefore the cultures they belong to are being lost at such a rapid rate that "linguists predict that we may lose as much as 90% of the world’s linguistic diversity within the next century." This KML provides an opportunity to explore the areas where these endangered languages are spoken throughout Africa and the Americas.

http://earth.google.com/gallery/images/small/endangered_languages_sm.jpg

http://earth.google.com/gallery/images/large/endangered_languages_lg.jpg

Open in Google Earth

Rapid Assessment Of Land Use Change In and Around Protected Areas (RALUCIAPA)

Dr Mark Mulligan, UNEP-WCMC

http://www.unep-wcmc.org/protected%5Fareas/raluciapa/

RALUCIAPA (Rapid Assessment Of Land Use Change In and Around Protected Areas) does as it says on the tin and is a collaboration between KCL (Kings College London) and UNEP-WCMC (the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre). It is a tool to assist in conservation monitoring and prioritisation and shows protected areas in green. In red it shows areas deforested between 2000 (when most of the NASA imagery used in Google Earth/Maps was taken) and 2005, based on the MODIS VCF data.

This work in progress uses data from NASA, The University of Maryland, and the World Database on Protected Areas.

http://earth.google.com/gallery/images/small/raluciapa_protect_sm.jpg

http://earth.google.com/gallery/images/large/raluciapa_protect_lg.jpg

Open in Google Earth

Disappearing Forests

David Tryse

http://david.tryse.net/googleearth/

This wonderful KML presents a geographical account of the planet's disappearing forests. By using polygons to represent rates of deforestation, the data can be quickly and easily communicated. Country profiles are also included, providing high quality, accessible information included as pops ups in the pie chart balloons - be sure to check out the live hectare counter in these placemarks!

http://earth.google.com/gallery/images/small/disappearing_forests_sm.jpg

http://earth.google.com/gallery/images/large/disappearing_forests_lg.jpg

Open in Google Earth