NEW YORK (May 24, 2017) – A study led by University of Queensland (UQ) and co-authored by WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), warning how World Heritage Sites are being damaged by human activities, will receive an Elsevier Atlas Award, which recognizes impactful published science.

The paper, “Recent increases in human pressure and forest loss threaten many Natural World Heritage Sites,” was published last January in the journal Biological Conservation.  It was selected from thousands of recently published articles in 1,800 journals.

Each month the Elsevier Atlas Award showcases research that could significantly impact people's lives around the world or has already done so.  The award’s goal is to bring wider attention to this research to help ensure its successful implementation.

The study provided the first quantitative assessment of how humanity is negatively affecting Natural World Heritage sites.  The authors looked at human pressure over time using the updated global Human Footprint criteria, which includes roads, agriculture, urbanization and industrial infrastructure, along with forest loss.

Said lead author and UQ School of Earth and Environmental Sciences PhD student James Allan “We found that more than 100 sites are being damaged by encroaching human activities such as our land uses and infrastructure. Our most concerning finding is that many sites are being seriously damaged, possibly even beyond repair.”

“This Award shows that people in the wider community are concerned with our findings. It is clear that urgent action is needed to save these amazing places before it is too late,” said the study’s senior author Dr James Watson of UQ and WCS. “They are global assets, recognized by the UN as the jewels in the crown when it comes to nature conservation, and they are worth protecting for all of humanity.”

Virginia Prada López, who is an Associate Publisher with the Atlas Program for Elsevier, a world-leading publisher and provider of information solutions for science, health, and technology professionals, will present the award at UQ on May 25.

Said López: “Atlas articles showcase research that can (or already has) significantly impacted people’s lives around the world and we hope that bringing wider attention to this research will go some way to ensuring its successful implementation.”

Articles are hosted prominently on Elsevier.com which is visited by almost three million people each month, and the article will be made freely available on ScienceDirect (Elsevier’s full-text article database) to ensure it is accessible to all. 

The study was undertaken by an international team from The University of Queensland, Wildlife Conservation Society University of Northern British Columbia and the International Union for Conservation of Nature

###