Protected areas or conservation areas are locations that receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood, non-timber forest products, water, ...) is limited.
The term "protected area" also includes marine protected areas and transboundary protected areas across multiple borders. As of 2016, there are over 161,000 protected areas representing about 17 percent of the world's land surface area (excluding Antarctica).
For waters under national jurisdiction beyond inland waters, there are 14,688 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), covering approximately 10.2% of coastal and marine areas and 4.12% of global ocean areas. In contrast, only 0.25% of the world's oceans beyond national jurisdiction are covered by MPAs.
In recent years, the 30 by 30 initiative has targeted to protect 30% of ocean territory and 30% of land territory worldwide by 2030; this has been adopted by the European Union in its Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, Campaign for Nature; which promoted the goal during the Convention on Biodiversity's COP15 Summit and the G7. In December 2022, Nations have reached an agreement with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at the COP15, which includes the 30 by 30 initiative.
Protected areas are often implemented for biodiversity conservation, providing habitat and protection from hunting for threatened and endangered species. Protection helps maintain ecological processes that cannot survive in most intensely managed landscapes and seascapes.Dudley, N. (ed.) Guidelines for Applying Protected Areas Management Categories (IUCN: Switzerland, 2008) Indigenous peoples and local communities frequently criticize this method of fortress conservation for the generally violent processes by which the regulations of the areas are enforced.
IUCN definition The definition that has been widely accepted across regional and global frameworks has been provided by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in its categorisation guidelines for protected areas. The definition is as follows:
A clearly defined geographical space, recognized, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values.
Protected areas and climate change
Protected Areas alleviate climate change effects in a variety of ways:
Prohibition of degradative activities including: fishing, hunting, development, agriculture, mining, logging, and sometimes entry. Reduction in: shifts in species distribution, intensity of storms, and impacts of sea level rise.
Combats ocean acidification by: maintaining coastal primary producers, increasing teleost biomass (osmosregulation buffers pH change), and increasing natural carbon sequestration via the biological pump. Increased: populations, species resilience, genetic diversity, and potential for adaptations, lowering the risk of extinction.
Protection of natural resources The objective of protected areas is to conserve biodiversity and to provide a way for measuring the progress of such conservation. Protected areas will usually encompass several other zones that have been deemed important for particular conservation uses, such as Important Bird Areas (IBA) and Endemic Bird Areas (EBA), Centres of Plant Diversity (CPD), Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas (ICCA), Alliance for Zero Extinction Sites (AZE) and Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) among others. Likewise, a protected area or an entire network of protected areas may lie within a larger geographic zone that is recognised as a terrestrial or marine ecoregions (see Global 200), or a Crisis Ecoregions for example.
As a result, Protected Areas can encompass a broad range of governance types. A wide variety of rights-holders and stakeholders are involved in the governance and management of protected areas, including forest protected areas, such as government agencies and ministries at various levels, elected and traditional authorities, indigenous peoples and local communities, private individuals and non-profit trusts, among others. Most protected-area and forest management institutions acknowledge the importance of recognizing the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, sharing the costs and benefits of protected areas and actively involving them in their governance and management. This has led to the recognition of four main types of governance, defined on the basis of who holds authority, responsibility, and who can be held accountable for the key decisions for protected areas. Governance of protected areas has emerged a critical factor in their success.
The area of forest in legally established protected areas worldwide is estimated at 813 million ha, which is around 20% of the total forest area. Of the six regions, Asia has the largest share of forests in protected areas, at 26%. The area of forest in protected areas has increased by 251 million ha globally since 1990. Globally in 2025, 386 million ha of forest is designated primarily for the protection of soil and water, an increase of 123 million ha since 1990. The rate of increase in the forest area allocated for this purpose has grown over time and especially in the most recent decade. Of the regions, Europe had the largest area of forest designated for the protection of soil and water, at 173 million ha, which is 17% of the region’s total forest area. The largest proportion of forest designated for the protection of soil and water is in Asia, at 20%.
The range of natural resources that any one protected area may guard is vast. Many will be allocated primarily for species conservation whether it be flora or fauna or the relationship between them, but protected areas are similarly important for conserving sites of (indigenous) cultural importance and considerable reserves of natural resources such as;
Carbon stocks: Carbon emissions from deforestation account for an estimated 20% of global carbon emissions, so in protecting the worlds carbon stocks greenhouse gas emissions are reduced and longterm land cover change is prevented, which is an effective strategy in the struggle against global warming. Of all global terrestrial carbon stock, 15.2% is contained within protected areas. Protected areas in South America hold 27% of the world's carbon stock, which is the highest percentage of any continent in both absolute terms and as a proportion of the total stock.Campbell, A., Miles. L., Lysenko, I., Hughes, A., Gibbs, H. Carbon Storage in Protected Areas: Technical Report (UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre, 2008) Rainforests: 18.8% of the world's forest is covered by protected areas and sixteen of the twenty forest types have 10% or more protected area coverage. Of the 670 ecoregions with forest cover, 54% have 10% or more of their forest cover protected under IUCN Categories I – VI.Coad L., Burgess, N.D., Bomhard, B., and Besancon, C. Progress on the Convention on Biological Diversity's 2010 and 2012 Targets for Protected Area Coverage "Looking to the Future of the CBD Programme of Work on Protected Areas" (Cambridge: UNEP-WCMC, 2009) Mountains: Nationally designated protected areas cover 14.3% of the world's mountain areas, and these mountainous protected areas made up 32.5% of the world's total terrestrial protected area coverage in 2009. Mountain protected area coverage has increased globally by 21% since 1990 and out of the 198 countries with mountain areas, 43.9% still have less than 10% of their mountain areas protected.Rodríguez-Rodríguez, D., Bomhard, B., Fitzgerald, C. & Blyth, S. How much of the world's mountain area is protected? (Cambridge, UNEP-WCMC, 2009)
Annual updates on each of these analyses are made in order to make comparisons to the Millennium Development Goals and several other fields of analysis are expected to be introduced in the monitoring of protected areas management effectiveness, such as freshwater and marine or coastal studies which are currently underway, and islands and drylands which are currently in planning.Bomhard, B., Butchart, S., Tracking Progress Towards the CBD's Targets for Protected Area Coverage and Management Effectiveness (UNEP-WCMC & BirdLife International, 2010)
Protection of biodiversity The effectiveness of protected areas to protect biodiversity can be estimated by comparing population changes over time. Such an analysis found that the abundance of 2,239 terrestrial vertebrate populations changed at slower rate in protected areas. On average, vertebrate populations declined five times more slowly within protected areas (−0.4% per year) than at similar sites lacking protection (−1.8% per year).
Protection of ecosystem services Along with providing important stocks of natural resources, protected areas are often major sources of vital ecosystem services, unbeknownst to human society. Although biodiversity is usually the main reason for constructing protected areas, the protection of biodiversity also protects the ecosystem services society enjoys. Some ecosystem services include those that provide and regulate resources, support natural processes, or represent culture. Provisioning services provide resources to humanity, such as fuel and water, while regulating services include carbon sequestration, climate regulation, and protection against disease. Supporting ecosystem services include nutrient cycling, while cultural services are a source of aesthetic and cultural value for tourism and heritage.
Such services are often overlooked by humanity, due to the ecosystem from which they originate being far from urbanized areas. The contamination of ecosystem services within a designated area ultimately degrades their use for society. For example, the protection of a water body inherently protects that water body's microorganisms and their ability to adequately filter pollutants and pathogens, ultimately protecting water quality itself. Therefore, the implementation of protected areas is vital to maintaining the quality and consistency of ecosystem services, ultimately allowing human society to function without the interference of human infrastructure or policies.
IUCN Protected Area Management Categories
Through its World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), the IUCN has developed six Protected Area Management Categories that define protected areas according to their management objectives, which are internationally recognised by various national governments and the United Nations. The categories provide international standards for defining protected areas and encourage conservation planning according to their management aims.Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Categories, Published October, 2008
IUCN Protected Area Management Categories: Category Ia – Strict nature reserve Category Ib – Wilderness Area Category II – National park Category III – Natural monument or Feature Category IV – Habitat/Species Management Area Category V – Protected Landscape/Seascape Category VI – Protected Area with sustainable use of natural resources
History
Protected areas are cultural artifacts, and their story is entwined with that of human civilization. Protecting places and natural resources is by no means a modern concept, whether it be indigenous communities guarding sacred sites or the convention of European hunting reserves. Over 2000 years ago, royal decrees in India protected certain areas. In Europe, rich and powerful people protected hunting grounds for a thousand years. Moreover, the idea of protection of special places is universal: for example, it occurs among the communities in the Pacific ("tapu" areas) and in parts of Africa (sacred groves).