Sixteen years of change in the global terrestrial human footprint and implications for biodiversity conservation

Authors

Oscar Venter, University of Northern British Columbia
Eric W. Sanderson, Global Conservation Program
Ainhoa Magrach, ETH Zurich
James R. Allan, University of Queensland
Jutta Beher, University of Queensland
Kendall R. Jones, University of Queensland
Hugh P. Possingham, University of Queensland
William F. Laurance, James Cook University
Peter Wood, James Cook University
Balázs M. Fekete, CUNY City CollegeFollow
Marc A. Levy, Columbia University
James E. M. Watson, Global Conservation Program

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-23-2016

Abstract

Human pressures on the environment are changing spatially and temporally, with profound implications for the planet’s biodiversity and human economies. Here we use recently available data on infrastructure, land cover and human access into natural areas to construct a globally standardized measure of the cumulative human footprint on the terrestrial environment at 1 km2 resolution from 1993 to 2009. We note that while the human population has increased by 23% and the world economy has grown 153%, the human footprint has increased by just 9%. Still, 75% the planet’s land surface is experiencing measurable human pressures. Moreover, pressures are perversely intense, widespread and rapidly intensifying in places with high biodiversity. Encouragingly, we discover decreases in environmental pressures in the wealthiest countries and those with strong control of corruption. Clearly the human footprint on Earth is changing, yet there are still opportunities for conservation gains.

Comments

This article was originally published in Nature Communications, available at DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12558.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.