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Protect the last of the wild

Global conservation policy must stop the disappearance of Earth’s few intact ecosystems, warn James E. M. Watson, James R. Allan and colleagues.
  1. James E. M. Watson

    1. James E. M. Watson is a professor of conservation science at the University of Queensland, and director of the Science and Research Initiative at the Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, New York, USA.

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  2. Oscar Venter

    1. Oscar Venter is an associate professor at the Natural Resource and Environmental Studies Institute, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, Canada.

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  3. Jasmine Lee

    1. Jasmine Lee is a PhD candidate in the School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia.

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  4. Kendall R. Jones

    1. Kendall R. Jones is a conservation planning specialist at the Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, New York, USA.

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  5. John G. Robinson

    1. John G. Robinson is executive vice-president of conservation and science at the Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, New York, USA.

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  6. Hugh P. Possingham

    1. Hugh P. Possingham is chief scientist at The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, Virginia, USA.

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  7. James R. Allan

    1. James R. Allan is a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia.

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A woman walks through the Amazon forest

A Xikrin woman walks back to her village from the Cateté River in Brazil. Credit: Taylor Weidman/zReportage.com/ZUMA

A century ago, only 15% of Earth’s surface was used to grow crops and raise livestock1. Today, more than 77% of land (excluding Antarctica) and 87% of the ocean has been modified by the direct effects of human activities2,3. This is illustrated in our global map of intact ecosystems (see ‘What’s left?’).

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Nature 563, 27-30 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-07183-6

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