World Wilderness Areas

• Main Author: UNEP/GRID-Geneva
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Regional and Global Biogeochemical Dynamics Data (RGD)
• Subjects: VEGETATION CLASSES|DIGITIZER|COUNTRY FILES; LAND COVER|DIGITIZER|COUNTRY FILES; VEGETATION CLASSES; COUNTRY FILES; DIGITIZER; Global (gridded); Canada; Greenland; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://search.dataone.org/view/World_Wilderness_Areas.xml

The Reconnaissance-Level Inventory of the Amount of Wilderness in the World basically shows areas which are hardly touched by mankind. For this data set called World Wilderness Areas, wilderness has been defined as undeveloped land still primarily shaped by the forces of nature. The World Wilderness Areas data set was created by the Sierra Club and the Center for Earth Resource Analysis of the World Bank. UNEP/GRID built a global data set from the many individual country data files. The base maps used were the Jet Navigation Charts (scale 1:2,000,000) and Operational Navigation Charts (scale 1:1,000,000) of the U. S. Defense Mapping Agency. These maps show increasing levels of detail in respect to human constructs, to provide orienting landmarks, as areas become sparsely settled and remote. In searching for empty quarters, all areas showing roads, settlements, airports and other constructs were eliminated. Areas of agricultural development and logging were removed by eliminating proximity zones of 6 km. distance from around roads and settlements. Finally, all remaining wilderness areas with a surface area less than 400,000 hectares were not included in the map. Under the definitions used, about one-third of the total land surface of the globe is still wilderness. This amounts to almost 50 million square kilometers. The continents with the most wilderness are Antarctica (not shown on map), Eurasia, Africa and North America. Individual countries with the most wilderness are the Commonwealth of Independent States (34% wilderness), Canada (65%), Australia (30%), Denmark's Greenland (99%), China (Tibet) (24%), Brazil (24%), Algeria (59%), Mauritania (69%) and Saudi Arabia (28%).