A team of more than 200 international scientists and researchers
have completed a two-year global study to identify the Earth's
most pristine and untouched regions. Their findings have been
compiled in a new book, Wilderness: Earth’s Last Wild Places.
The 37 Wilderness Areas include habitats on every continent,
ranging from the Amazon rainforest, teeming with more than
30,000 endemic plant species, to the barren deserts of the
Sahara. Only areas greater than 10,000 km2 with at least 70
percent of their original vegetation intact qualified. In most
cases, they have less than five people per square kilometer.
"These Wilderness Areas are critical to the survival of the
planet; they help regulate weather patterns and rainfall, and
are major storehouses for biodiversity," said co-author Russell
Mittermeier, President of Conservation International.
"Unfortunately, they are increasingly threatened by population
growth, encroaching agriculture and extraction activities.
Barely seven percent of them enjoy some form of