IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, defines a protected area as:
"A protected area is 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.
IUCN categorises protected areas by management objective and has identified six distinct categories of protected areas:
For more information on IUCN's protected area categories click here
By 2000, the world's 30,000 protected areas covered over 13, 250, 000 km2 of the land surface of the world (roughly the size of India and China combined). A much smaller proportion of the world's seas (barely 1%) are protected. This represents a tremendous investment by the countries of the world to protect their biological diversity for future generations.
Protected areas perform many functions. They are essential for conserving biodiversity, and for delivering vital ecosystem services, such as protecting watersheds and soils and shielding human communities from natural disasters. Many protected areas are important to local communities, especially indigenous peoples who depend for their survival on a sustainable supply of resources from them. They are places for people to get a sense of peace in a busy world - places that invigorate human spirits and challenge the senses. Protected landscapes embody important cultural values; some of them reflect sustainable land use practices. They are important also for research and education, and contribute significantly to local and regional economies, most obviously from tourism. The importance of protected areas is recognized in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Article 8, for example, calls on contracting parties to develop systems of protected areas.
Protected areas face many challenges, such as external threats associated with pollution and climate change, irresponsible tourism, infrastructure development and ever increasing demands for land and water resources. Moreover, many protected areas lack political support and have inadequate financial and other resources.
There is only one body working world wide for the protection of these vitally important areas. This is the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) - one of the six Commissions of IUCN.
