[ad_1]
According to new research, only five countries hold 70% of the world's still unspoilt wilderness areas. Urgent international action is needed to protect them.
Researchers from the University of Queensland (UQ) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have produced for the first time a world map showing countries responsible for nature devoid of heavy industrial activity.
It precedes the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to be held in Egypt in November, during which the signatory countries are working on the development of a post-2020 biodiversity protection plan.
Environmentalists are calling for a mandated target for nature conservation, which will preserve vulnerable ecosystems of the planet.
The UQ and WCS study, published in the journal Nature, identifies Australia, the United States, Brazil, Russia and Canada as the five countries that host the vast majority of the remaining wilderness.
The data exclude intact wild areas of Antarctica and the high seas that are not contained within national boundaries.
The document comes after the team of scientists produced data in 2016 that listed the last terrestrial wilderness on the planet, and by 2018, what parts of the world's oceans were left untouched by the human activities.
They found that over 77% of the land – with the exception of Antarctica – and 87% of the oceans had been altered by human intervention.
"Two years ago, we conducted the first analysis of wilderness on earth," said lead author James Watson.
"In this new analysis, we created a global map and crossed it with national borders to ask: who is responsible?"
Researchers say that the last wilderness of the planet can only be protected "if it is recognized in international political frameworks".
They are calling for an international goal that protects 100% of all remaining intact ecosystems.
"It's possible to reach a goal of 100%," Watson said. "All nations must do, is to prevent the industry from entering these places".
He added that the five countries responsible for most of the remaining wilderness needed to show leadership and could act to protect these areas by legislating or offering incentives to companies that do not weaken nature.
John Robertson, Executive Vice President for Global Conservation at WCS, said wilderness would only be guaranteed in the world "if these countries took a leadership role."
"We have already lost so much. We must seize these opportunities to secure the desert before it disappears forever, "he said.
Source link
