IUCN WCPA Privately Protected Areas and Nature Stewardship Specialist Group

Privately Protected Areas (PPAs) are under-represented in national protected area systems and under-reported internationally despite the fact that they are a rapidly growing element of the conservation estate.  

A Privately Protected Area (PPA) is a protected area, as defined by IUCN, under

• private governance (i.e. individuals and groups of individuals);
• non-governmental organizations (NGOs);
• corporations (both existing commercial companies and sometimes corporations set up by groups of private owners to manage groups of PPAs);
• for-profit owners;
• research entities (e.g. universities, field stations) or
• religious entities.

We define stewardship as efforts to create, nurture & enable responsibility in landowners and resource users to manage and protect natural and cultural resources.

Privately protected areas will be an essential component in achieving the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 on completing ecologically representative protected area networks around the world. Privately protected areas provide the opportunity for voluntary contributions to conservation, complementing the role of governmental agencies, indigenous peoples and communities in caring for nature.

Privately Protected Areas (PPAs) are still under-represented in national protected area systems and under-reported internationally despite the fact that they are a rapidly growing element of the conservation estate, and to reverse this situation is one of the SG priority actions.

SG’s Objectives 2021-2025:

1: Improve the enabling environment globally and nationally for designation and support of privately protected areas, chiefly through promoting the IUCN definition of PPAs and integrate PPAs into global frameworks (e.g., CBD)
2: Document and explore enhanced roles of privately protected areas in connecting people with nature as stewards, through expanding opportunities for specialist group interaction and information-sharing. 
3: Refine estimates of the extent of privately protected areas (quantitative, spatial assessment); Encourage structures and incentives to report on PPAs both nationally and to the WDPA. 
4: Create or strengthen national PPA associations to assess performance, provide training and develop data collection systems 
5: Explore boundaries and overlaps with other governance types and classes of area- based conservation, such as OECMs
6: Prepare for a rush of interest in recognizing PPAs as a result of CBD adoption of Target 3 (30x30)