http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.08.049

Catastrófico declive en los territorios salvajes del Planeta

Un nuevo estudio publicado por un grupo de científicos detalla como en los últimos 25 años los seres humanos hemos destruido 10% de las zonas salvajes (wilderness) de la Tierra. Dentro de las principales causas se encuentran la minería, tala ilegal de bosques, agricultura y nuevas explotaciones de petróleo y gas.

El área salvaje que ha desparecido en los últimos años representa el doble de la superficie de Alaska, con lo que los territorios vírgenes del planeta representan hoy un 23% de la superficie terrestre de la Tierra. Los científicos señalan que, si la tendencia actual se mantiene, es posible esperar la desaparición total de tierras salvajes significativas en un periodo inferior a 100 años.

El continuo declive de las áreas salvajes, representa pérdidas significativas tanto para la vida humana como para la naturaleza y biodiversidad. Esto presenta un problema irreversible con consecuencias directas para toda la vida en el planeta.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.08.049
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.08.049

Como se aprecia en la figura, la mayor parte del territorio salvaje que aún se conserva, se concentra en Norteamérica, el norte de Asia, norte de África y Australia.

Los autores detallan que para revertir esta tendencia deben tomarse con urgencia ciertas medidas, entre las que destacan: la creación de grandes áreas de protección, el establecimiento de mega-corredores entre áreas protegidas y permitir a comunidades indígenas el establecimiento de reservas para la conservación.

La protección proactiva de las áreas salvajes restantes es una inversión costo-efectiva, ya que nos permitirá seguir beneficiándonos, hoy y en el futuro, del amplio rango de servicios ecosistémicos que la biodiversidad nos ofrece.

6 thoughts on “Catastrófico declive en los territorios salvajes del Planeta

  1. Our present environmental problems are at a crisis point. Yet we have seen this catastrophe coming for over half a century, so why do humans knowingly continue on such a destructive pathway? So far economic solutions, scientific progress and technological advances have failed to change our present self-induced trajectory. Climate change continues to accelerate and biodiversity continues to be lost at an alarming rate. The next generation will be facing ever more challenging problems, which we cannot yet imagine. We need a new and creative way to approach these challenges. We need to re-examine the values we hold as a society and as individuals, and challenge the existing values of our present dominant cultural paradigm. What can Indigenous cultures teach us about creating new paradigms for the future? Should whales have personhood status? Do trees have rights? We must look at ethical questions like these, consider past and present issues in environmental ethics, and develop the philosophical problem solving skills needed for a sustainable and biodiverse future.

  2. New Zealand, you are not Australia. I do not say this lightly nor with the volition to disparage either people. I respect and admire both entities. Yet, while I relish our trans Tasman sea rivalry with Big Brother Oz I cannot help but feel that when it comes to some concourses, our ambitions to compete are compelled by a form of misinformed ignorance. Clearly, the two state economies are founded upon two different types of assets: ours pastorally based, Australia’s minerally centred. And yet, there are some buffoons within our political framework who believe that we have the ability to challenge and rival Australia as a raw mineral power house. What have these political nitwits been drinking? I’m all for a little friendly banter and good natured rivalry but when it comes with an environmental price tag to rip our resplendent Wonderland to rags, well I’m enraged. Yes, the oil probably exists in oozes of our shores and heck we could frack if we really aspired to, spade away for carbon, diamonds or gold but why the hell should we? Because the Aussies are doing it and we aren’t keeping up! Why should this terrify us so? As a kiwi citizen, it confounds me when I’m mistaken for an Ocker just as much as it must frustrate a Canadian to be confused for a Yank. Innocent an error enough but enough to tap into our parochial sense of patriotism. So why do we need to delve into a mineral war arms extraction race against the ‘continent’ of our nearest and dearest neighbour? When we are already outgunning the Aussies when it comes to dirty dairying and water way devastation. Must we also add ocean violators and sea creature masochism to our already shady list of eco-evils? Haven’t we learned from the greedy mistakes of our proximal Pacific friends on the resource decimated domains of Nauru, Gaum and that ultimate metaphor for environmental catastrophe Easter Island? So utterly pigheaded in our desire to upstage Australia with a challenge to outdig them while telling our Pacific partners to keep their pristine beaches clean forWhimpy winter sun seeking Western wanderers. How unbelievably and astoundingly hypocritical of us to arrogantly assert that we know best! Noo, New Zealand, let’s leave the battles to our sporting tussles for the mining and drilling tete a tete are jostling duels I’m quite felicitous at letting the Aussies be the victors. While I have no doubts about its economic potential I feel that this course only further extends the idea of New Zealand as a raw goods resource servant to the world. As far as I’m concerned the idea of Farm NZ Inc needs a serious shake up in this modern age of ours. As one erudite economics professor once stated a non renewable resource sold is not a resellable resource twice. Compared against the behemoth that is the Great Southern Land why would we wish to sell ourselves off of what little we already have. We all know that even in nations of greater physical and geographic proportions to our own that it does not take long for a resource to be depleted. Oil in the USA is the emphatic case that comes to mind. If it took 100 Oddish years to drain the American basin just how long would little old New Zealand fare? Naturally there would be handsome short term gains at the inevitable cost of unbearable and catastrophic long term pains. Undeniably, I feel that we should be striving for the inverse even if we miss a seemingly easy pay cheque.No, while parlaying people preoccupy themselves over the perplexities of progress and its unharmonious union with planetary plunder I do not wish for one of these fretful figures to be dutifully devoted to vigorously wagging the naughty boy finger at our sacrilegious shores. No, New Zealand should not be an environmental Chernobyl horror story for all to admonish. On the contrary we have the power and charismatic capacity to convert ourselves into an ecological saints in an inspired endeavour to spin a Cinderella tale. An NZ which promotes eco-smart actions is the kind of state id be proud to stand behind. The kind of nation that solidly stands behind marine reserves, coastal conservation, the protection of endangered species via the expansion to national parks tug at my heart strings every time instead choices marine over our insanely far fetched gas and mineral aspirations. Once the gas deposits off the coast of the Taranaki or the oil drills have done their devilish dash for cash in the Coromandal what will sustain these regions beyond the gobble rush and the gaping geo-grotesque gash it leaves behind? What NZ needs to be is a solution seeker not a blind problem perpetuating prophet to an antiquated white man vision of smash n grab mineral banditry. I envisage a glorious future where the scientific might of Oz and Kiwi intelligencia put their magnificeny minds together in the combined search for renewal energy. In sun drenched Oz, research could be directed towards solar scholarship while here in nz, blessed with residing in the roaring 40s, we could place our energy into wind technologies. We also have the dream setting for the investigation of other renewal riches including geothermal and biofuel alternatives. As a small pocket rocket state with science as our stimulatory steroid par excellence, we have every ability of being a pace setter not only in energy but also in transport. Our compact size makes it feasible for us to aim to be an Oceanic kind of hip fun loving green voyaging version of Denmark.The promotion and engagement with the underlying merits underpinning green mobility and motility is certainly a prospect far more reachable in little old New Zealand than it is in big expanse Terra Australis. In my dreams, a clean green Haven of homeostatic harmony is the basis behind a new national branding one which finally kills off our last dirty mining ties to our carbon caveman colonial epoch. Instead of being tree butchers, coal rakers and oil thirsters, we’ll reinvent the way in which we Kiwis learn to recondition our attitude towards a smart choose and reuse culture rather than a bruise and abuse one often carrying minimalistic (and destructive) once off pays. We will beba paradiso that tourists will yearn to flock to in order to be inspired by our destiny and devotion to nobly serving nature and the treasures abounding her nurturing. Formerly vile diabolic coal carting cabooses converted into electric powered wonder wagons guiding all revellers through the bounties that we have sheltered away from avaricious corporately conspired commercialized temptations. While French and German maniacal cycle guru gluttons for punishment peddle through our pristine prairie in awe of having stumbled upon the closest thing to heaven on earth. From that day forth, Nz will be recognised globally as a divine bastion of splendour, a holy sanctuary, a utopian vision that others will aspire to mimic. An eden of hope for a return to innocence where we make our peace with creation rather than prolonging our sinister original sin towards the degradation of mother nature and all of her wonders.

  3. As panic attack bells toll during our self inflicted doomsdayesque Christmas Day countdown and the festive season forays and frenetic fits of frenzy that follow it let’s pause and recall that magical message “it’s the most wonderful time of the year.” True, there is some nonsensical hype to the valorization and gregarious praise of a festivity which not all of us prescribe to performing and perpetuating. To some it will be a religiously saturated fête, to others a statute holiday haaa if you’re blessed, to others a family catch up and for the wee ones especially the anticipation of a gargantuan galore of gift unwrapping. Far from trying to uphold an ancient Christian relic, I am excitedly open to the veneration of the way in which this holy occasion has morphed to celebrate the hybridity of humanity. Every year, I have been astounded by the ever increasing fabulous fashions in which Xmas has taken on new meanings to new people. That said, there has always been a dark cloud cast over this period particularly in the devastating ways in which it has highlighted the less than desirable antics of those who undeniably are devoid of the Christmas Spirit. Domestic violence is a perennial pity, abuse directed towards animals is a constance and depression can run rife. Soaring suicide rates stagger and alcohol fueled fracases repeatedly contribute to hospitalisations, road rage, rampages and high road related mortalities. Surging costs part society into the divisive Haves and Have Nots classes and far from putting Peace on Earth Christmas can make us a mean and malicious mob. I’m not just referring to mall mania but the sniggering sense of self importance we feel when we make consumption our faith par excellence. Basing our moral essence upon how dapper the gifts we give or upon how swift we swipe our VISAS is a shallow cop out for really celebrating life. After all, symbolically speaking Christmas is an additional annual birthday which we get to celebrate whether we wish to make it about Jesus or well just about LifeItself. If I embrace this evaluation from the narcissistic angle, this ceremony would be an encore of self glorification an egotistical private pomp. On the flipside, Tinseltime could and should reflect a more pluralistically altruistic purpose to party. Whatever your MO for reasoning and mental digestion, Noel does provide justification for revelling in having been alive to relish and savour another revolution around the cosmic odometer clock. You have accomplished this feat by yourselves and even more so with the companionship of others. This continued coexistence is cause for celebration. Your presence is your biggest blessing in sum You are lucky to be alive. While you might not ever wield that racy sport car of your deepest dreams, fit that designer swim suit because they are fitted for model automatons whom have forgotten the ecstasy of a fast food binge or have the dosh to splurge on a Seychelles escape you nonetheless are ordained with more wealth than what you initially perceive. Yes i know, we still won’t have that high performance vehicle, unrealistic media distorted bod or those glamorous getaways at the conclusion of each sacred season that passes but while our consumptive choices maybe contained it is important to never forget the open plain of options afforded to us by our Democratic liberty and free will. Far from pining and whining over the things that are beyond our clutches isn’t it time we responded in awe at the diverse delights of our choices and possessions in the here and now? As a free and independent citizen with rights and a degree of socioeconomic and political power, I have a respectable amount of self determining dignity to delegate the direction of my decisions and overall life course.While i may indeed live in an imperfect world of odd, irregular an unjust injustices, for all intensive purposes it would be far more advantageous and schematically sensible to my psychophysical roundness of health to see my life glass as half full rather than half empty. After all, in all my years on this pebble I have learned one very important lesson, there may be a lot of people far better off in the world but there are undeniably a hell of a lot far worse off than myself also. Far from worrying about the lack of power you have to change what not isn’t it time we started rejoicing the democratic possessions that we do already exercise? As we carefreely congregate with our convoy of colleagues and our fellow kinsmen of the clan rather than bemoaning what Santa or Jesus isn’t bringing for us shouldn’t we show some decency and gratitude for all the constancy that they have throughout the year. For in all earnestness, while I may not be getting that latest I Pad or I This or I That I am and should genuinely be content with the day in and day out blessings that we all seem to take for granted. My car is indeed a bomb but with a twist here and a tweak here it still takes me where I long to go. My bulging bod may never grace the pagesof Vogue but it is without doubt the greatest instrument that I will ever possess. It enables me to run, embrace and think with it. While I’m no Einstein or Usain Bolt, others live their lives devoid of many of these faculties. Imagine not being able to see, hear, feel or taste. Luckily, I do not need to.While I am not financially swimming in a copious sea of afluenza I can hardly complain about not being solvent. I do a largely laborial job that is rather handsomely remunerated. While I may be seen as just run of the mill ordinary middle class Joe here in NZ my status would seem princely and indeed regal in many impoverished parts of the world. You have food! You have a car! Your body still has arms and other limbs attached to it_!! Jeez you ARE a King! Yes yes i hear you say but you probably did put a bit of umph into getting to where you have in life. Well, to my credit yes yes i have. But to claim all the accolades of my entire life would be a risible gaffe. After all I had a little luck along the way with factors I could never ever have controlled. I never ever chose to be born in NZit just so happened that that’s what succeeded. As was the fact that I was born into a hard working family that valued education, nourished me and helped to give me a socially desirable identity. I was born sound, I was born white and I was born male. I do wish to convey these last 3elements in a pejorative light but just to reinforce the fact of how hard it is for the physically mentally challenged, non Caucasian and women to compete in a world still largely governed by the generic white man. They are sad blessings no doubt but still advantages that I am unfairly in possession of. My point is not for you to ascertain how much lower or higher you are than me Or Prince Harry on the sociofinancial food chain. It is merely to remind you thatEven in the most dire of circumstances there is always an even more drastically worse case scenario. As one friend once told me, he loved tennis so much but was heartbroken by how seemingly inept he was at playing the game. Even I could comprehensively trounce him. Yet it wasn’t until he met one guy at a bar without arms that he realised how privileged he really was. This pub patron poignantly pointed out “you may suck as an opponent buy at least you get to play”. How wise and fitting a philosophical assessment. This Xmas let’s say hosanna for the food we have! Let’s say hallelujah for the treasures we possess, amen for the people and pets who share our lives and above all cherish the life that we do have. Let’s not forget to appreciate the artistry and carnival of Xmas and efforts and immense amounts of energy and enterprise people put into making the occasion timeless. Love every morsel of beauty that you see hear touch taste and smell. Never forget the souls of Natales past and be generous in your prayers for the departed. Chances are that your Navidads will have been much more leisurely and luxuriant than your poor old grandparents. But above all if you can do something for the living and those less well situated than yourselves. Give what you can, no matter how little what little you do will seem like a Christmas miracle to those taken aback by such unexpectedly welcome kindness and charity. Charity may begin in the home but once it is unleashed it can bring about an inundation of social solidarity. Xmas has the mystical ability to unleash a magical myriad of fantastical scenarios. I often recall how my ratbag friends and I feared having to retrieve our various sporting apparatuses and balls from Ms Mundy the resident neighborhood witch’s house. Only one of my more assiduously astute friends plucked up the courage to face this invented monster to realise she wasn’t an evil child eating succubi after all. She was a sweet old lonely lady who loved baking especially for very cheeky and rather silly little Boys. Regardless of what your belief is and what the traditionalists decree the debate of what constitutes as the real meaning of Xmas is something that should be entrusted into the Democratic free right we as citizens have to choose for ourselves what we ourselves wish to nobly obtain from this communal commemoration. Every year that passes I tend to gleefully regard what our ancestors called a Christian Christmas as a new age hippy beautifully bastardized beast. For me, the day is the melting pot where Saturnalia meets Harvest Day whom then introduces herself to Earth Day whom then succeeds to present themselves to Thanksgiving Day. Christmas Day is all that and more to me and while I’m sure that the real Santa is a likeably cordial chubby chap the modern metaphor of the fat greedy white generic Santa abusing Third world elves to make toys for insatiable little third world gluttonous brats makes my blood boil. Surely, we have not plummeted to such social shallowness and selfishness. As I brace myself for a holiday season of beach dune recovery awareness and sea plant sowing I hope you all find what brings you true joy, ecstasy and love this Christmas. And if your still persistently pondering over your placement in the Homo socio food pyramid chain here’s some errr food for thought, not every perspective from the peak is a pleasurable one. I have a modelling acquaintance who can attest to that. For while he earns more than me, is physiologically finer sculpted than me and is socially more connected than me his standing on the summit is far more revealing than my own. In spite of his higher financial intake, his figure and the way social media (that cruel judgemental beast) dictates that he will still have to dedicate a substantial part of his vacations to staying in shape. As for me, I won’t be worrying as much about my bulging body. Well, at least not until January. Eat, love and pray and glory in the unique wonder that is you. Your paddock may be greener than you first imagined.

  4. financial intake, his figure and the way social media SPEAKS (that cruel judgemental beast) SELF PRESERVATION OF ONES SOCIAL STANDING dictates that he (MORESO THAN MOI) will still have to dedicate a substantial part of his vacations to staying in shape.

  5. I do wish to convey these last 3elements in AN UNDENIABLY pejorative light SPECIFICALLY AND UNDOUBTEDLY to reinforce the fact of JUST how hard it is for the

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