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FOREST CONSERVATION NEWS TODAY
Global Wilderness: Half Empty or Half Full?
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December 8, 2002
OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by Forests.org
"Wilderness: Earth's Last Wild Places", a major new publication by
Conservation International and Agrupación Sierra Madre, has found that
“wilderness areas” still cover close to half the Earth's land, but
contain only a tiny percentage of the world's population. More than
200 international scientists identified 37 wilderness areas that
represent 46 percent of the Earth's land surface, but are populated by
just 2.4 percent of the world's population (excluding urban centers).
To qualify as "wilderness," an area must have 70 percent or more of
its original vegetation intact, cover at least 10,000 square
kilometers (3,861 square miles) and most have fewer than five people
per square kilometer. The large format book can be purchased on CI’s
web site at http://www.conservation.org/ .
The study’s authors note that wilderness is “critical to the survival
of the planet” because they provide necessary ecosystem services to
the Earth - including regulation of weather, housing major
biodiversity stores, sequestering carbon and maintaining watersheds –
to say nothing of their evolutionary and spiritual significance.
These areas provide and maintain conditions conducive to life -
globally, regionally and locally. Let us set aside for the moment word
games regarding whether the wilderness construct is legitimate (though
I note that even one with the barest of ecological intuition can tell
the difference between a shopping mall parking lot and primary old-
growth forests). The main points are: 1) that gradients in relative
wildness exist, (see our recent paper: Barry, G.R., T.P. Rooney, S.J.
Ventura, and D.M. Waller. 2001. Evaluation of biodiversity value based
on wildness: a study of the western Northwoods, Upper Great Lakes,
USA. Natural Areas Journal 21: 229-242.), 2) the Earth as we know it
now can not exist without large and operable natural ecosystems, 3)
and thus, maintaining wilderness areas is a requirement for global
ecological sustainability. Along with other considerations such as
biodiversity hotspots, “wilderness” protection and restoration must
be THE major ecological conservation strategy of our and all time.
Although identified wilderness areas are still largely intact, they are
increasingly threatened by resource extraction, population growth and
encroaching agriculture. Only some seven percent of the areas
currently enjoy some form of protection. Loggers, oil companies and
other resource marauders are poised to hammer these global ecosystem
epicenters. Our global future depends upon not letting this happen.
Global ecological sustainability is dependent upon maintaining and
restoring natural ecological systems as the context for human
activities. It is imperative that the Earth’s ecological fabric of
being is mended, now. Identification of wildness gradients to guide
conservation efforts provide an important tool for doing so.
g.b.
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ITEM #1
Title: Half the Earth still wild
Unspoiled areas offer low-cost conservation opportunities
Source: Copyright 2002, Nature News Service
Date: December 5, 2002
Bylien: JOHN WHITFIELD
The unspoiled areas offer the opportunity to save large amounts of
nature at little cost, say conservationists. But human pressures on
wilderness are increasing, they warn.
Two hundred researchers worldwide have compiled information on places
where there are fewer than five people per square kilometre. To be
wilderness, an area
also has to cover more than 10,000 square kilometres, and have at
least 70% of its original vegetation intact - it can't have been
logged, farmed or mined.
Thirty-seven regions covering about 70 million square kilometers fit
the bill. This is an area the size of Africa and the Americas
combined, but its population is only slightly greater than that of
Bangladesh. Two environmental groups put the report together: the US-
based Conservation International and the Mexico-based Agrupación
Sierra Madre.
The report draws attention to places that conservationists often
overlook, says biologist Andrew Balmford of the University of
Cambridge, UK. Areas such as the Australian desert or the Arctic
tundra "aren't as sexy as the last bit of forest somewhere", he says.
The rewards of preserving these wildernesses now would be great. "We
wouldn't be fighting a rearguard action," says environmental scientist
Norman Myers of the
University of Oxford, UK. "If conservationists get in at the start and
get things right there's a huge amount we could do."
Safeguarding sparsely inhabited, unused areas would be cheaper than
saving those under human pressure. But we need to act quickly, says
Myers. "Loggers are poised to get into many areas," he says. Less than
a tenth of the world's wilderness is currently protected.
Wilderness is also important for keeping the environment healthy. It
soaks up huge amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. The animals and
plants there stand a better chance of adapting to climate change than
those isolated in small patches of habitat.
Hotspot check
Five of the wildernesses are also biodiversity hotspots, home to
thousands of species found nowhere else. These are Amazonia, Papua New
Guinea, the Congo, the North American desert and the deciduous
woodlands of southeastern Africa.
Previous surveys have drawn attention to these small areas with large
numbers of unique species under grave threat. Such classification
schemes helped to focus conservation attention and attract funds.
The report could do a similar thing for wilderness. It's important to
understand the different value of different wild places, says
Balmford, although there is a danger that using too many different
names could become confusing.
"It's the responsibility of scientists to inform people about these
different kinds of places," he says. "But ultimately the decision
about the blend of priorities is a societal one - it can't be left to
boffins."
ITEM #2
Title: Almost Half the Earth Is Still Wilderness
Source: Copyright 2002, Environment News Service
Date: December 5, 2002
Bylien: Cat Lazaroff
WASHINGTON, DC, December 5, 2002 (ENS) - Wilderness areas still cover
close to half the Earth's land, but contain only a tiny percentage of
the world's population, finds a new report from Conservation
International. The 37 wilderness areas identified in the report
represent 46 percent of the Earth's land surface, but are occupied by
just 2.4 percent of the world's population, excluding urban centers.
A team of more than 200 international scientists and researchers spent
two years compiling information about the Earth's most pristine and
untouched regions. Their findings have been compiled in a new book,
"Wilderness: Earth's Last
Wild Places."
The team identified 37 wilderness areas, including habitats on every
continent, ranging from the Amazon rainforest, teeming with more than
30,000 endemic plant species, to the barren deserts of the Sahara.
Only areas greater than 10,000 square kilometers (about 3,861 square
miles) with at least 70 percent of their original vegetation intact
qualified.
In most cases, these pristine areas host less than five people per
square kilometer (.39 square miles).
"These wilderness areas are critical to the survival of the planet,"
said Russell Mittermeier, president of Conservation International and
a coauthor of the report. "They help regulate weather patterns and
rainfall, and are major
storehouses for biodiversity."
"Unfortunately, they are increasingly threatened by population growth,
encroaching agriculture and extraction activities," Mittermeier
warned. "Barely seven percent of them enjoy some form of protection."
Excluding urban centers, wilderness areas cover 46 percent of the
globe's land surface, but are occupied by just 2.4 percent of the
world's population. Nineteen of the areas, representing 38 percent of
the Earth's land surface, have very low population densities - about
one person per square kilometer or less - and these are often native
communities.
"These very low density areas represent a landmass equivalent to the
six largest countries on Earth combined - Russia, Canada, China, the
United States, Brazil and Australia - but have within them the
population of only three large cities, a truly remarkable finding,"
said Mittermeier.
Peter Seligmann, Conservation International's chair and CEO, said that
learning about these undisturbed wilderness areas with their few
inhabitants offers "a unique and historic opportunity to protect these
high priority regions."
"These wilderness areas are important for any global strategy of
protecting biodiversity, since we have the opportunity to save large
tracts of land at relatively low costs," Seligmann added. "In doing
so, we can also support indigenous communities that are often
struggling to maintain their traditional way of life."
The Americas are home to the largest number of wilderness areas, with
16 unique regions that range from Patagonia in southern Argentina to
the Arctic tundra of Alaska and Canada. The Sonoran and Baja
Californian Deserts, for example, include 324,300 square kilometers
(125,212 square miles) in Mexico and
the southwestern United States. Eighty percent of these deserts remain
intact, supporting 118 species of birds and 45 mammals, including
bighorn sheep and pronghorn antelope. The 570,496 square kilometers
(220,270 square miles) of the
Northern Rockies, which is more than 75 percent intact supports more
than 1,400 species of plants, 92 native mammals and 264 bird species,
such as the great gray owl, Clark's nutcracker and tundra swan.
Africa has eight wilderness areas, including the dense forests of the
Congo and the expansive plains of the Serengeti. Australia and New
Guinea share six areas, Europe has three areas and Asia two. The
Arabian Desert and Antarctica are also
considered wilderness areas.
The five wilderness regions that hold more than 1,500 native plant
species are considered "high biodiversity wilderness areas," including
the three largest tropical rainforests: South America's Amazon,
Central Africa's Congo Forest and the Pacific island of New Guinea.
Southern Africa's Miombo-Mopane woodlands and grasslands, and the
deserts of northern Mexico and southwestern U.S. are also on the high
biodiversity list.
"Wilderness areas are major storehouses of biodiversity, but just as
importantly, they provide critical ecosystem services to the planet,
including watershed maintenance, pollination and carbon
sequestration," said Gustavo Fonseca, executive director of
Conservation International's Center for Applied
Biodiversity Science, which was responsible for much of the book's
analysis. "As international debates on climate change and water
security continue, these wilderness areas take on even greater
importance."
The largest wilderness area is the boreal forest, which forms a 16
million square kilometer (more than six million square mile) ring just
beneath the Arctic Circle that stretches across Alaska, Canada,
northern Europe and Russia. The smallest site - with 10,000 square
kilometers (about 3,861 square miles) - is the Sundarbans, the world's
largest tidal mangrove forest, which straddles India and Bangladesh at
the mouth of the Ganges River.
"Wilderness: Earth's Last Wild Places" is the third in a series of
books, which also includes "Megadiversity" and "Hotspots."
With the publication of "Hotspots" in 1999, researchers identified 25
sites that represent only 1.4 percent of the Earth's land surface but
contain more than 60 percent of its terrestrial species diversity.
Those areas are under extreme threat and are focal points for
Conservation International's conservation efforts.
"We have a narrow window of opportunity to keep these wilderness areas
from becoming fragmented and fragile hotspots," Fonseca said. "If we
are to succeed as conservationists, we have to take a two track
approach and protect the biodiversity rich hotspots and keep our
wilderness areas healthy."
The new book, a collaborative effort between Conservation
International and Agrupación Sierra Madre, features 576 pages of text
and more than 500 photographs depicting rare species and remarkable
places around the world. Conservation International's Global
Conservation Fund helped finance the
research project, and the book was published by CEMEX, a global
company based in Mexico. "Wilderness: Earth's Last Wild Places" is
available through
Conservation International's website at: http://www.conservation.org
ITEM #3
Title: Global Analysis Finds Nearly Half The Earth Is Still
Wilderness
Many Areas, Including North America's Deserts, Under Severe Threat
Source: Press Release, Conservation International
Date: December 4, 2002
Bylien: Cat Lazaroff
Washington, DC - According to the most comprehensive global analysis
ever conducted, wilderness areas still cover close to half the Earth's
land, but contain only a tiny percentage of the world's population.
More than 200 international scientists contributed to the analysis,
which will be published in the book, Wilderness: Earth's Last Wild
Places, (University of Chicago Press, 2003).
The 37 wilderness areas identified in the book represent 46 percent of
the Earth's land surface, but are occupied by just 2.4 percent of the
world's population, excluding urban centers. Nine of the wilderness
areas fall, at least in part, within the United States.
Although the wilderness areas are still largely intact, they are
increasingly threatened by population growth, encroaching agriculture
and resource extraction activities. Barely 7 percent of the areas
currently enjoy some form of protection.
Nineteen of the wilderness areas have remarkably low population
densities - an average of less than one person per square kilometer.
Excluding urban centers, these 19 areas represent 38 percent of the
Earth's land surface, but hold only 0.7 percent of the planet's
population.
"These very low density areas represent a landmass equivalent to the
six largest countries on Earth combined - Russia, Canada, China, the
United States, Brazil and Australia - but have within them the
population of only three large cities, a truly remarkable finding,"
said co-author Russell Mittermeier, President of Conservation
International. "It's good news that we still have these large tracts
of land largely intact and uninhabited, but these areas are
increasingly under threat."
The large-format, 576-page book depicts rare species and remarkable
places in more than 500 breathtaking color photographs that accompany
detailed information regarding the habitat, species and cultural
diversity of each wilderness area. The analysis was mainly carried out
over the past two years by Conservation International's Center for
Applied Biodiversity Science with support from the Global Conservation
Fund.
The wilderness areas include several diverse habitats, ranging from
Southern Africa's Miombo-Mopane Woodlands, with the world's largest
remaining population of African elephants, to the Sonoran and Baja
Californian Deserts of Arizona, California and Mexico, with their
Gila woodpeckers and giant cacti, to Amazonia's rainforests, teeming
with biodiversity including 30,000 endemic plant species and 122
endemic primate species and subspecies.
To qualify as "wilderness," an area has 70 percent or more of its
original vegetation intact, covers at least 10,000 square kilometers
(3,861 square miles) and most have fewer than five people per square
kilometer.
"Wilderness areas are major storehouses of biodiversity, but just as
importantly, they provide critical ecosystem services to the planet,
including watershed maintenance, pollination and carbon
sequestration," said Gustavo Fonseca, Executive Director of CI's
Center for Applied Biodiversity Science. "As international debates
on climate change and water security continue, these wilderness
areas take on even greater importance."
Only five wilderness areas are considered "high-biodiversity
wilderness areas," because they contain at least 1,500 endemic
vascular plant species, meaning they are found nowhere else in the
world. The five areas are Amazonia, the Congo Forests of Central
Africa, New Guinea, the North American Deserts and the Miombo-Mopane
Woodlands and Grasslands of Southern Africa.
"These wilderness areas are important for any global strategy of
protecting biodiversity, since we have the opportunity to save large
tracts of land at relatively low costs," said Peter Seligmann, CI's
Chairman and CEO. "The areas are also critical for Earth's remaining
indigenous groups, which often want to protect their traditional
ways of life from the unwanted by-products of modern society."
"As striking as these wilderness numbers are, they only serve to
underscore more than ever the critical importance of protecting the
biodiversity hotspots, areas which represent only 1.4 percent of the
Earth's landmass but contain more than 60 percent of its terrestrial
species," said Mittermeier. "If we are to succeed as
conservationists, we have to take a two-pronged approach of
protecting the biodiversity hotspots and high-biodiversity
wilderness areas simultaneously."
The book is the result of collaboration between Conservation
International and Agrupación Sierra Madre, and is published by
CEMEX, a Mexican company that also published the first two books in
this series, Megadiversity and Hotspots.
Wilderness: Earth's Last Wild Places is now available through
Conservation International (www.conservation.org). The University of
Chicago Press will accept pre-orders beginning in December
(www.press.uchicago.edu), and the book will be available in
bookstores in Spring, 2003.
###
Images, b-roll, global and regional maps, interviews, and specific
information about each wilderness area available upon request.
About the Authors:
Dr. Russell Mittermeier, a world-renowned primatologist, is the
president of Consevation International. Cristina Goettsch
Mittermeier is a marine biologist and professional photographer.
Patricio Robles Gil is president of Agrupación Sierra Madre. Dr.
Gustavo Fonseca is the Executive Director of the Center for Applied
Biodiversity Science at Conservation International. Dr. Thomas
Brooks heads CI's Conservation Synthesis Department. John Pilgrim is
a Biodiversity Analyst with CI, and William Konstant is Director of
Special Programs in the President's Office at CI.
contact
Brad Phillips
b.phillips@conservation.org
(202) 912-1532
Pamela Moyer
p.moyer@conservation.org
(202) 912-1294
Conservation International (CI) applies innovations in science,
economics, policy and community participation to protect the Earth's
richest regions of plant and animal diversity in the hotspots, major
tropical wilderness areas and key marine ecosystems. With
headquarters in Washington, D.C., CI works in more than 30 countries
on four continents. For more information about CI's programs, visit
www.conservation.org.
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