2 Information about Protected Areas

2.1 Overview

This section provides information on Protected Areas and Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) extracted from the World Database on Protected and Conserved Areas (WDPCA) which can be visualised and downloaded online at www.protectedplanet.net. The WDPCA catalogues Protected Areas reported as meeting the IUCN definition (which is broadly considered to agree with the CBD definition, see Lopoukhine & de Souza Dias, 2012) of Protected Areas: "A clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values". The WDPCA also catalogues OECMs that meet the CBD definition of OECMs: “A geographically defined area other than a Protected Area, which is governed and managed in ways that achieve positive and sustained long-term outcomes for the insitu conservation of biodiversity, with associated ecosystem functions and services and where applicable, cultural, spiritual, socio–economic, and other locally relevant values”.

Protected Areas and OECMs are fundamental tools for conservation and national planning. They vary widely, by size, management objectives and governance types. Similarly, there are many different designation types of Protected Areas as sites can be designated at a national level (e.g. national parks), under regional agreements (e.g. the European Natura 2000 network) and under international conventions and agreements (e.g. natural World Heritage Sites). Often these different types of Protected Areas might occupy partially or totally the same geographic space (known as overlap). For example, the same or similar area can be a National Park and a natural World Heritage site at the same time. OECMs complement Protected Areas through sustained, positive conservation outcomes, even though they may be managed primarily for other reasons.

These data are carefully curated by UNEP-WCMC. As with all datasets, there is important information about its origin and character that should inform its appropriate use. Please see Appendix 1 for important information about these data.

Table 2. Overview of Protected Areas

2.2 Protected Areas by names of designation

Similarly to designation types, designation names are very variable especially for sites designated at a national level. The WDPCA includes the total list of different designation names in a country, and it should be noted that they are often being managed by different agencies (Table 3). The WDPCA also includes sites designated under international conventions and agreements which include sites designated under the Ramsar Convention, the World Heritage Convention and the UNESCO Man and Biosphere (MAB) programme (Table 3).

Table 3. Total number of Protected Areas designated at a national level and under international conventions and agreements.

The Protected Area and OECM coverage of a country is assessed by eliminating all overlaps between Protected Areas and OECMs to avoid double counting. Figures of the total area under protection are presented in square kilometres. The calculation is presented for the landmass or terrestrial areas of the country’s territory and for the marine areas under national jurisdiction.

Table 4. Protected Area coverage overall statistics.

2.4 IUCN Protected Area Management Categories

The IUCN Protected Area Management Categories help classify Protected Areas based on their primary management objectives. The system is widely accepted as a standard to categorise Protected Areas, although it is voluntary and not all Protected Areas have an IUCN Management Category assigned. Categorising Protected Areas under the IUCN Protected Area Management Categories enables comparisons in facilitating comparisons between countries for research purposes and reduces the confusion that has arisen from the adoption of many different terms and designations that describe the same kind of Protected Areas in different parts of the world. However, the absence of a management category does not in any way reduce the importance of a Protected Area, nor does it imply that the site is not being adequately managed. IUCN Management Categories are not applicable to OECMs.

Table 5. Protected Areas under each IUCN Management Category (See Dudley et al., 2008).

2.5 Protected Areas by governance type

Protected Areas and OECMs can be under the control and responsibility of a range of different actors. Governance types describe the different means of management authority and responsibility that can exist for Protected Areas and OECMs, but they do not necessarily relate to ownership of a particular site. This list can assist in identifying key stakeholders for planning actions at a national level.

Table 6. Protected Areas under each governance type (See Borrini-Feyerabend et al., 2013).

Want to learn more?

• Explore the World's Protected Areas: www.protectedplanet.net
• Visit the Biodiversity A-Z web to learn more about Protected Areas (https://www.biodiversitya-z.org/content/protected-areas)
• Visit the Biodiversity A-Z web to learn more about IUCN Protected Area Management Categories (https://www.biodiversitya-z.org/content/iucn-protected-area-management-categories)