Scientists find only 3% of land areas unblemished by humans

According to a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, only about 3 per cent of land surfaces are ecologically intact.

Very little of today’s world resembles Planet Earth from 500 years ago. In fact, only about 3 per cent of land surfaces might be ecologically intact -- still home to their full range of native species and unblemished by human activity, according to new research. The finding -- published Thursday in the journal Frontiers in Forests and Global Change -- is far lower than previous estimates based on satellite images, which suggested around 20 per cent to 40 per cent of land ecosystems were undamaged. For the new study, however, scientists conducted an extensive survey of forest cover and species losses to understand better what was happening beneath the world’s tree canopies.