Wild areas' disappearing: 70% of remaining in the hands of only 5 countries

The wild areas around the planet are worryingly disappearing. In little more than 20 years humanity has canceled three million square kilometers of untouched nature, which means a tenth of what we had at the end of the 90s. Today, a quick glance is enough to identify natural areas without human impact and most of them are under the control of countries where the environment is not one of the political priorities. To explain that clearly is the map developed by researchers at the University of Queensland and the Wildlife Conservation Society. First of its kind, the map shows that 70% of the last wild areas of the planet are in the hands of only 5 countries: Australia, United States, Brazil, Russia and Canada.

«A century ago, only 15% of the earth's surface was used to grow and raise livestock» researchers explain on Nature. «Today, over 77% of the land (excluding Antarctica) and 87% of the ocean have been modified by the direct effects of human activities». The research points out that between 1993 and 2009, get lost a wild area bigger than India - about 3.3 million square kilometers - because of urbanization, agriculture, mining and other human activities. In the ocean, however, the areas free of industrial fishing, pollution and navigation are now almost completely confined to the polar regions.

«Two years ago we wrote the first analysis of wilderness on earth», explains the lead author, James Watson. «In this new research we created a global map and intersected it with national boundaries to ask: who is the responsible?». It is no coincidence that the study was published these days. In November, in fact, the conference of the participant to the Convention on Biological Diversity will be held in Egypt, an appointment in which members will have to work on the new plan for the protection of biodiversity post 2020.