Last of the Wild is an initiative created in 2002 on behalf of the
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the
(CIESIN) at
Columbia University to identify the last remaining 'wild' areas on the earth's land surface, measured by human influence. By mapping and measuring the extent of human
ecological footprints
The ecological footprint is a method promoted by the Global Footprint Network to measure human demand on natural capital, i.e. the quantity of nature it takes to support people or an economy. It tracks this demand through an ecological accounti ...
, and using an overlaying method to determine the
Human Influence Index The Human Footprint is an ecological footprint map of human influence on the terrestrial systems of the Earth. It was first published in a 2002 article by Eric W. Sanderson, Malanding Jaiteh, Marc A. Levy, Kent H. Redford, Antoinette V. Wannebo, and ...
(HII), WCS and CIESIN are able to establish the areas that have been least affected by human activities (places with Human Footprint grid values less than or equal to 10) which has currently determined a Last of the Wild status for 569 places globally.
By understanding where the earth's wildest areas still remain, conservation organisations are able to maximise on the best opportunities for conservation which, as of 2002, lay within 87% of the
terrestrial planet. The conservation of areas identified as 'The Last of the Wild' are less likely to be obscured by conflicts and proposals of human infrastructure and as a result may obtain this status for a prolonged period of time.
[Strand, H. et al. Sourcebook on Remote Sensing and Biodiversity Indicators. Convention on Biological Diversity Technical Series. (Montreal: Secretariate of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2007) pp.201]
See also
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High-Biodiversity Wilderness Areas A High-Biodiversity Wilderness Area (HBWA) is an elaboration on the IUCN Protected Area classification of a Wilderness Area (Category Ib), which outlines five vast wilderness areas of particularly dense and important levels of biodiversity. The sub ...
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Biodiversity Hotspots
A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened by human habitation. Norman Myers wrote about the concept in two articles in ''The Environmentalist'' in 1988 and 1990, after which the ...
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Biosphere Reserves
Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments.
MAB's work engag ...
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Protected Areas
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Conservation movement
The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental, and social movement that seeks to manage and protect natural resources, including animal, fungus, and plant species as well as their habitat for the f ...
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Ecoregions
An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...
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Crisis Ecoregions A crisis ecoregion is a terrestrial biome facing significant threat to its biodiversity and requiring well directed conservation efforts in order to curb the irreversible loss of plant and animal species and their surrounding habitats. Generally, an ...
References
External links
A-Z of Areas of Biodiversity Importance: Last of the WildWildlife Conservation Society: The Human FootprintGeoserver: Data on the Human Footprint
Nature conservation organizations based in the United States
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