A compilation of four methods for mapping human impact reveals the places where humans have the lowest impact
maps are more recent attempts to identify where humans aren’t. Both include data on livestock density; the former also looks at mining and energy production and the latter includes data on protected areas and deforestation.
All of the maps agreed that about half of Earth shows “low” human impact, and about half of that—a quarter of the ice-free surface of the planet—could be described as “very low” human impact. Mostly, the maps assigned the same places to those categories.
For example, archeological research and ecological surveys of tree species increasingly suggest that the Amazon rainforest. Layers of charcoal from controlled fires and groves of trees that were clearly planted by people, like açaí palms and cacao, still attest to those days. But since the forest is currently without extensive croplands or major infrastructure, much of the Amazon is ranked as “low impact” in the map.
And while preserving largely untouched “wilderness” is an important goal for many, it isn’t always where the most plant and animal species are. Globally, the tropics have many more species than the ecosystems closest to the poles, but the tropics also have a lot of people, according toBut, Dornelas says, “if we just preserve tropical forests, we lose all the polar bears and all the tundra plants and all the desert species.
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