Humans are rapidly taming the world's wild places.

In the past century, nearly 80 percent of all land has been modified or impacted by human development. As a result, other species have rapidly declined. One study estimates animals are going extinct 1,000 times faster than they would have without human influence.

To fight that growing trend, conservation groups are increasingly turning to converting biologically rich lands into conservation plots like national parks and marine protected areas. Today, the Wyss Foundation, a charity focused on protecting wild places, announced they are donating $1 billion to launch the Wyss Campaign for Nature.

Hansjörg Wyss says the money will go toward a U.N. goal to protect 30 percent of the Earth by 2030. Wyss