The hugely influential 85-year-old two-time Pulitzer Prize winning Harvard University biologist, E.O. Wilson proposed a radical conservation strategy: Half the planet should be set aside solely for the protection of wildlife to prevent the mass extinction of species. He says that we will face a biological holocaust unless we humans agree to share the land more equally with the planets other species. If we can devote half the planet to wildlife, it will open up Long Landscape and corridors running vertically down continents, which will enable species to move to more suitable habitat as climate changes. This is important because islandisation can be disastrous for wildlife by inhibiting movement and preventing genetic diversity, which can lead to the loss of species. Species are more likely to become extinct in small areas that become islands because of human development. We in the US only protect 4% of our land in the way E.O. Wilson would like to see half of the world protected. Imagine what it the world would look like with 50% of our land protected... nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11314525
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 20:30:00 +0000
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