elephant (IMAGE) Wildlife Conservation Society Caption 44 percent of Earth’s land area – some 64 million square kilometers (24.7 million square miles) requires conservation to safeguard biodiversity Credit Max Melesi on behalf of Koobi Carbon Usage Restrictions for one time use for stories directly related to this study License Original content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.