A wilderness area is a large, contiguous area that remains largely untouched by modern human activity and is legally protected to preserve its natural condition and allow natural processes to occur without human interference. Although most wilderness areas are on land, they can also be maritime, such as seashores or even areas of the ocean.
Wilderness areas are not permitted to have any permanent structures such as buildings, roads and electric power lines and do not allow the use of automobiles and other motorized vehicles. Only non-mechanized transportation such as hiking and horseback riding is allowed. Bicycles are generally prohibited in most countries in order to preserve the natural condition and experience, although they are often allowed on paved roads or designated routes in national parks and other protected areas.
The wilderness movement began in the early twentieth century in the United States. A major landmark was the Wilderness Act of 1964, which defines wilderness as "an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain" and requires each area to be at least 5,000 acres (about 20 square kilometers) in size. It set an important precedent and many countries subsequently followed with their own wilderness legislation and establishment of protected areas.
Wilderness areas can have several very important functions including (1) protecting habitats and biodiversity, (2) carbon sequestration and climate regulation, (3) air and water purification, (4) nutrient cycling and soil formation, (5) flood and disaster mitigation and (6) cultural and recreational benefits.
They can also have (7) passive use value, which is the satisfaction that people derive just from knowing that the wildernesses and their biodiversity and iconic species exist and will still be there for future generations, even if they rarely or never actually visit them. In fact, studies have found that passive use value is much greater than the economic benefits derived from active use such as recreation or resource extraction.
Approximately 23 percent of the earth's land surface (excluding Antarctica) and about 13 percent of the ocean is classified as wilderness. Roughly 17 percent of land and inland waters and 8.5 percent of marine areas are currently protected formally.
Indigenous peoples collectively hold or manage a substantial portion of the world's remaining intact forests, possibly more than 50 percent, and roughly 40 percent of key biodiversity areas. Although they are generally recognized under international conservation policies and many national laws as having the right to remain and live in such areas, unfortunately, the actual protection and enforcement of these rights varies considerably.
Although there is no universally agreed upon optimal percentage, conservation science suggests that large, contiguous wilderness areas should cover at least 30 percent of the earth's surface in order to adequately perform their important functions including maintaining biodiversity and climate regulation. However, some studies argue that an even higher percentage of intact ecosystems are needed to achieve these goals.
Wilderness areas have come under increasing pressure for use for mining, logging, hunting, road building and other forms of human intrusion, largely as a result of growing populations and improving transportation. Although the existing legal protections are an essential tool that greatly reduces habitat loss and other effects from humans, they alone are often not sufficient, and it is also necessary that they be backed up with a combination of additional legal as well as economic, governance and community-based measures.
Examples of the many things that can be done to strengthen the protection of wilderness areas are (1) creating greater public awareness of the importance of establishing and maintaining such areas, (2) enacting and enforcing comprehensive laws that prohibit the trade and import of illegally sourced wildlife, timber and minerals, (3) involving indigenous peoples and local communities in decision-making, monitoring and enforcement, (4) using advanced technology including satellite monitoring and wood tracking systems to detect illegal mining and logging, (5) providing technical and financial assistance to timber-producing countries to strengthen law enforcement, improve governance and strengthen monitoring and verification systems and (6) increasing prosecution rates and penalties for environmental crimes.