Global human influence maps reveal clear opportunities in conserving Earth’s remaining intact terrestrial ecosystems

• Published in: Global Change Biology
• Main Authors: Riggio, Jason, Baillie, Jonathan E. M., Brumby, Steven, Ellis, Erle, Kennedy, Christina M., Oakleaf, James R., Tait, Alex, Tepe, Therese, Theobald, David M., Venter, Oscar, Watson, James E. M., Jacobson, Andrew P.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2020
• Subjects: Anthromes; conservation targets; Convention on Biological Diversity; Global Human Modification; habitat intactness; Half-Earth; Human Footprint; human influence; Low Impact Areas; spatial conservation prioritization; 2300 Environmental Science; 2303 Ecology; 2304 Environmental Chemistry; 2306 Global and Planetary Change; Tundra
• Online Access: https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:1e6d072

Leading up to the Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of the Parties 15, there is momentum around setting bold conservation targets. Yet, it remains unclear how much of Earth's land area remains without significant human influence and where this land is located. We compare four recent global maps of human influences across Earth's land, Anthromes, Global Human Modification, Human Footprint and Low Impact Areas, to answer these questions. Despite using various methodologies and data, these different spatial assessments independently estimate similar percentages of the Earth's terrestrial surface as having very low (20%–34%) and low (48%–56%) human influence. Three out of four spatial assessments agree on 46% of the non-permanent ice- or snow-covered land as having low human influence. However, much of the very low and low influence portions of the planet are comprised of cold (e.g., boreal forests, montane grasslands and tundra) or arid (e.g., deserts) landscapes. Only four biomes (boreal forests, deserts, temperate coniferous forests and tundra) have a majority of datasets agreeing that at least half of their area has very low human influence. More concerning