Scientists who have assessed its condition over the past decades called the shrinking of wilderness space catastrophic.
There are practically no territories left on Earth that are not affected by agriculture, oil or gas production, mining or deforestation. According to James Watson of the University of Queensland and his colleagues, since 1993 the area that still contains wildlife has decreased by 10%, or 3.3 million square meters. km, is a territory equal to the entire European part of Russia. Scientists cite such data in an article published by the journal Current Biology.
The authors emphasize that the loss of virgin nature is an old trend, which today has acquired a special scope and leads to irreversible consequences for both humanity and the entire planet. If it continues to develop at the same pace, by the end of the century there will be no places left untouched by our economic activity on Earth. In the meantime, there are 30.1 million square meters of them. km, which is approximately 23% of the total land surface area. So far, the forests of the vast Amazon basin and the savannah of Central Africa, previously practically virgin, are suffering more than others: they account for about 30 and 14 percent of all losses, respectively.
“The scale of wildlife loss in recent decades is frightening and terrifying,” says James Watson. - It is impossible to restore it. If it is destroyed, the ecosystems that formed its basis disappear and will never return to its previous state. The only way is to actively protect and preserve what's left. However, despite the active expansion of protected areas of nature reserves and national parks, which since 1993 have increased by 2.5 million square meters. km, this process does not keep pace with the decrease in the space of wild nature. And it is not always effective: illegal logging and poaching are called one of the key problems of preserving untouched territories.
Wildlife areas destroyed in 1993–2015 are shown in red, and what is still preserved in green
Photo: James Watson et al., 2016
The most extensive areas of virgin nature remained in the north of Africa, Eurasia and America, in Central Australia. These vast areas account for 25.2 million square meters. km (82.3%) of the remaining intact areas. The rest of the plots are not gaining in area and 10 thousand square meters. km and are under especially strong pressure from human activity - according to the authors, they are unable to maintain the natural state of their ecosystems and are already practically doomed.
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