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Research shows a tenth of world's wild areas vanished since 1990s

Xinhua, September 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

The world's wilderness has reduced by a tenth in the past two decades, according to a study by World Conservation Society scientists.

The research findings published in the journal Current Biology last week noted the wild areas that vanished are mostly in South America and Africa, and only about 20 percent of the world's land area is sorted as wilderness currently.

The concept of wild areas or wilderness means landscapes free of human disturbances such as housing, development and industry, according to the scientists.

The findings are based on a map of worldwide wilderness now compared with the condition in the early 1990s. The distribution of different colors in the map shows that around 3.3 million square kilometers of wild areas has reduced during the period of time.

"International policy mechanisms must recognize the actions needed to maintain wilderness areas before it is too late," said Prof. James Watson of the University of Queensland, Australia, and the U.S. Wildlife Conservation Society in New York as quoted by the BBC News. Endi