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Gradually vanishing wilderness – Will we ever wake up?

With the spreading of civilization, the most concerned topic of today’s environment scientists is domestication of forest. People have domesticated the forest to such an extent that now there is hardly any place left untouched by humans. A recent article published in Nature says a lot about it.

The situation was however, not the same until as late as the year 1995. Satellite surveys and inspection over the wilds said there was more than 17 percent of land area with no human presence, crops, road access, or even night time light detected. But by the year 2007 the situation has become worse. The need of a shift is felt in the study of environmental science. The need is to study the ways of understanding and better managing a domesticated world, rather than protecting nature from humans, the researchers added.

According to Dr. Peter Kareiva, chief scientist at the Nature Conservancy,

There is no such thing as nature untainted by people. Facing this reality should change the scientific focus of environmental science

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If we consider the damage done to nature, the effect is quite severe; Half of the World’s land is used for crops or grazing, more than half of the forest area has been eliminated due to expansion of civilization causing the extinction of larger mammals residing at those parts of the forest. In Europe, more than 22,000 kilometers of coast line have been paved. The article also has given an idea about the damage done by excessive damming system. More than six times of water is stored in various dams compared to the free flowing rivers. These statistics are seriously troublesome.

Human civilization has altered nature’s selection. Certain species, such as pets flourish on this planet, while other consumable species are on the verge of extinction. In Namibia large jellyfishes flourish due to over fishing. In the Benguela echo system (off the Northern coast of Namibia) till 1970 fishermen rarely captured large jellyfishes while fishing. Today, three times more jellyfishes are captured than commercial fishes in this region, according to the study. Thus disturbing the complete echo system of that particular region.

An effort has been made long ago to protect nature by establishing national and state parks, but this actually spoils the environment of that particular area.
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These places are considered more as tourist spots than anything else. Concerned Government also has no objection as it draws fat revenue every year. As an example, the Fuji – Hakone – Izu park in Japan is one of the most popular parks all over the world. It welcomes around 100 million visitors every year. This large number of visitors has triggered various facilities like spas, hotels, golf course, and trams inside the park, finally destroying its wilderness.

In the modern world, wilderness is more commonly a management and regulatory designation than truly a system without a human imprint, Kareiva wrote in his article. This tendency will increase day by day with the technological advancements.
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There is a need to sort out the way to keep at least some percentage of land area outside human interference. This could be possible by proper wild management. This step is to be taken as early as possible so that nature and people simultaneously thrive.

Source: Discovery

Image Credit: Tigertrust

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