Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long history, first emerging more than 10,000 years ago. It has been defined as "the purposes and activities through which people interact with land and terrestrial ecosystems" and as "the total of arrangements, activities, and inputs that people undertake in a certain land type." Land use is one of the most important drivers of global environmental change.
Habitat fragmentation caused by numerous roads near the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
The citadel of Kastellet, Copenhagen that has been converted into a park, showing multiple examples of suburban land use
Imaging by NASA of the effects of deforestation on rainfall in Brazil, an example of land change science modeling
Wilderness or wildlands are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity, or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally referred to terrestrial environments, though growing attention is being placed on marine wilderness. Recent maps of wilderness suggest it covers roughly one-quarter of Earth's terrestrial surface, but is being rapidly degraded by human activity. Even less wilderness remains in the ocean, with only 13.2% free from intense human activity.
White Goat Wilderness Area in Canadian Rockies, Canada
Stephen Mather Wilderness in the U.S. state of Washington
Innoko Wilderness in the U.S. state of Alaska in the summer
A view of wilderness in Estonia