The first map of the marine fauna shows that there is not much left

For the first time, scientists have mapped the amount of oceanic wilderness that remains. Only 13.2% of the oceans are intact, which shows how humans have reshaped the planet above and below the waves.

"We expected to find more wilderness," Kendall Jones, PhD candidate Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Queensland and lead author of the study, told Earther. "The fact that we have not emphasized how much our activities have become."

The new study, published Thursday in Current Biology is the first systematic analysis of wild marine areas in the Earth. To arrive at their conclusions, the researchers identified places free from intense human impacts, which they termed "marine wilderness". These areas have a minimal impact – the lowest 10% – from 1965 to 2005. They found that only 13.2% of the ocean – or about 55 million square kilometers, or the equivalent of five times the African continent – can still be classified in the category "wilderness". This may sound like a lot of ocean but remember that the ocean covers more than 70% of the planet. The wilderness is not evenly distributed, almost all being located in the high seas in the Arctic, Antarctica or around the isolated nations of the Pacific Islands. As might be expected, the coastal regions, with flourishing developments and constant human activity, are doing rather badly with almost no desert.

According to Jones, human impacts are visible in almost every corner of the ocean. The advent of better fishing technology allows us to fish deeper for longer periods of time. Better transportation technology allows us to travel further. Even in places where people do not go, marine ecosystems are affected by climate change caused by our carbon emissions.

Worse, the study also found that only five percent of marine wilderness areas are protected. The authors of the study attribute this to neglected marine wilderness areas in crucial international conservation agreements. These agreements focus on the protection of endangered species and extinction, rather than the preservation of pristine areas full of marine life. "We argue that while this is very important, you must also balance that by trying to save some wild places." The study found that most of the marine wilderness is on the high seas, where the Countries do not have the power to designate protected areas because it is outside their jurisdiction. 19659004] While individual countries may not be doing enough, the UN has recognized some of these problems by negotiating a "Paris Agreement for the Ocean", a legally binding high seas treaty that would govern the law on the high seas. The treaty will be ready to be signed by UN members by 2020.

"This is a crucial step in protecting these places on the high seas." Bradley Barr, Senior Policy Advisor at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, told Earther that the study was "an interesting analysis", although he hesitated on how the authors of the study defined the places freely proclaimed as wild, suggesting that they need a more rigorous definition. are great for the biodiversity of the oceans. They are home to endemic species and are among the last places where you will find creatures targeted by fishermen like tuna. According to Jones, the undisturbed nature of the areas makes them resilient to threats such as climate change, allowing them to recover from many of its impacts, such as coral bleaching faster than degraded areas.

"Even our best protection efforts can not value the biodiversity that marine wilderness offers," continued Jones. "It's crucial that they are not lost."