http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg541/Peter_April/fdss_zpsjllwelly.jpg
[Amazon rainforest. Picture <a href="http://www.wallpaperhd.pk/amazon-rainforest-wallpaper/">source</a>]

Newly released international <a href="https://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/9254/Study-A-Tenth-of-the-Worlds-Wilderness-Lost-since-the-1990s.aspx">research</a> led by scientists at <a href="http://www.uq.edu.au/">University of Queensland</a> with cooperation with <a href ="http://www.wcs.org/">Wildlife Conservation Society</a>  exposes catastrophic reduction of global wilderness areas within last 20 years. Wilderness area is an area where the landscape is in a natural and intact state with minimal human impact. 

The scientists created a <a href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(16)30993-9.pdf">map</a> of all Earth's wilderness areas and compared it to the map created two decades ago. The revised map shows that currently wilderness areas cover about 30.1 million km2. This amounts to 20% of all global land areas and are mostly located in Australia, North America, North Africa and North Asia.
The difference between these two maps reveals that 3.3 million km2 (around 10%) of wilderness areas have vanished since the early 1990s. This is the area half the size of Amazon or double the size of Alaska.
The most have been lost in South America (30%), especially Amazon, and also Africa (14%).

http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg541/Peter_April/sgdsd_zpsh4v9atfc.jpg
[Picture <a href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(16)30993-9.pdf">source</a>]

These are shocking and terrifying news, because once we destroy the wild ecosystems, they cannot be regenerated to the previous condition. These highly biodiverse areas are refuges for endangered fauna and flora.
We must act now if we want to save our precious wilderness. Losing it advances the climate change even more and also threatens the existence of many local communities.
So far, we have been paying attention to the decline of the species but we have ignored these very important wilderness ecosystems. In international agreements United Nations and many countries have neglected this issue, so it is important that we put a pressure on the governments and international organizations, so urgent policies are being introduced. This is about the quality of life of our future generations.

http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg541/Peter_April/gdfd_zpsj5ez2ve2.jpg
[Destruction of Amazon. Picture <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/11/14/brazil-amazon-destruction/3541703/">source</a>]


The study was published in the peer-reviewed, scientific journal Full report published in journal <a href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(16)30993-9">Current Biology</a>.

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References:

Full report published in journal Current Biology - <a href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(16)30993-9.pdf">"Catastrophic Declines in Wilderness Areas Undermine Global Environment Targets"</a>

Wildlife Conservation Society article - <a href="https://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/9254/Study-A-Tenth-of-the-Worlds-Wilderness-Lost-since-the-1990s.aspx">"Study: A Tenth of the World’s Wilderness Lost since the 1990s"</a>