Could protecting just 1.2 percent of Earth’s land help protect our planet’s most threatened species? Scientists recently identified 16,825 sites around the globe that, if turned into nature preserves, would save thousands of rare and endangered plant and animal species from extinction. Combined, these sites span an area smaller than the state of Wisconsin.
But conservationists need to act fast. “We have about five years before species start going extinct at a faster rate,” says Eric Dinerstein, an analyst at RESOLVE, an environmental nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., who led the study. “So we must act now to avoid an extinction crisis.”