OUTPUTS OF THE CONGRESS

Outputs on the United Nations List
and State of the World's Protected Areas

UN LIST OF PROTECTED AREAS
INFORMATION SITE

Background // Facts & Figures // Marine // PAs Top 20 // Biomes // Links 

Background

The 2003 United Nations List of Protected Areas released at the Vth IUCN World Parks Congress in Durban, South Africa, is the most comprehensive report ever on parks. It includes World Heritage Sites, Biosphere Reserves and other sanctuaries ranging from the biggest national park: Greenland, which spans 97 million hectares, to privately-owned sites covering as few as ten square kilometres.

The report, compiled by UNEP’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) in collaboration with IUCN and its World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), illustrates growth in areas being set aside for conservation.

The first national park, Yellowstone in the United States, was established in 1872. By the 1960’s, some 10,000 protected areas were created. Today, there are more than 100,000. The earliest recorded examples of government-backed protection however goes back millennia, to 250 BC, when the Emperor Asoka of India set up protected areas for mammals, birds, fish and forests.

In terms of surface covered, in 1962 - the year of the first IUCN World Parks Congress – some two million square kilometres were protected; today, over 18 million square kilometres benefit from protected area status.

Cumulative growth in protected areas by 5-year increment: 1872-2003
Click on the image to see a PDF version of the figure

back to top

Facts and Figures

The report lists 102,102 sites covering an area of 18.8 million square kilometres of which 17 million square kilometres – equating to 11.5 % of the Earth’s land surface, is terrestrial. Protected areas now cover more land than that under permanent, arable, crops.

67% of the world’s protected areas have been assigned an IUCN management category, covering 81% of the total area protected.

World's Area Protected
Click on the image to see a PDF version of the figure

Cumulative growth in global number of protected areas 1997-2003 by IUCN Category.

Click on the image to see a PDF version of the figure

Cumulative growth in global area of protected areas 1997-2003 by IUCN Category.

Click on the image to see a PDF version of the figure

Since the Earth Summit in Rio, developing country governments have demonstrated extraordinary commitment and over 40% of protected area sites are today found in such countries.

Data per region is available in the report.

With the Vth IUCN World Parks Congress taking in place in South Africa, here is the data for Eastern and Southern Africa, with the number and % distribution of categorised and non-categorised protected areas in the pie chart bellow, and areas and % distribution of categorised and non-categorised protected areas in the pie chart on the right.

Click on the image to see a PDF version of the figure

Overall, Europe leads the way in terms of the numbers of protected areas with over 43,000 listed followed by North Eurasia, nearly 18,000; North America, over 13,000 and Australia and New Zealand with close to 9,000. The Pacific, with around 320, has the fewest. There are nearly 4,390 in Eastern and Southern Africa with a further 2,600 in Western and Central Africa.

However, in terms of size, it is Central America with 14.5 million square kilometres of protected areas covering almost 25 % of the region, that tops the list followed by North America, 4.5 million square kilometres or just over 18 % of the region’s land surface.

South America, with nearly four million square kilometres of protected areas, tops the list in terms of percentage of land in protected areas. Close to 42 % of the region is held in protected areas.

Protected areas cover 1.6 million square kilometres or over 14.5 % of Eastern and Southern Africa and over 1.1 million square kilometres or over 10.5 % of land in Western and Central Africa.

The Pacific has over 20,000 square kilometres of protected areas representing about 1.5 %of its land area.

back to top

Marine

Most of these sites, including for example Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, have been designated since the 1970s. Australia and New Zealand have the largest area of marine protection, covering over 420,000 sq km. Although Europe has the largest number of marine protected areas, over 800, these are small and many offer only limited levels of protection. The coastlines of Southern and Eastern Africa and of South Asia are some of the least protected, making the Indian Ocean, with its wealth of coral reefs, seagrasses, and mangrove forests, perhaps the most poorly protected ocean.

back to top

The 20 Largest Protected Areas

More information & source: http://sea.unep-wcmc.org/wdbpa/toptwenty.cfm

back to top

Biomes

The report lists 14 so-called land or terrestrial “biomes”. Biomes are defined as “the world's major communities, classified according to the predominant vegetation and characterized by adaptations of organisms to that particular environment "

This table bellow shows the area covered by the world’s major terrestrial biome (such as tropical humid forests or cold-winter deserts), the total number of sites per biome, and the equivalent percentage. For example, between a third and ten % of some of the planet’s vital natural features such as the Amazonian rainforests, the Arctic tundra and the tropical savannah grasslands are now held in these protected areas.

Click on the image to see a PDF version of the figure

The rate at which the planet’s marine world is gaining protection causes even greater concern. Less than 0.5 % of the world’s seas and oceans are within protected areas.

back to top

Links and Documents

2003 United Nations List of Protected Areas - PDF Document 1.3MB

IUCN / UNEP Press Release - 09.09.2003 - Planet’s List of Protected Areas Tops 100,000 Mark - PDF Document

UNEP- http://www.unep.org

The underlying database for the World Database on Protected Areas can be viewed at: http://sea.unep-wcmc.org/wdbpa/

back to top