Protected areas, also called conservation areas, are places that are protected because they have important natural or cultural values. These areas limit human activities and the use of natural resources, such as firewood, non-timber forest products, and water.

The term "protected area" includes both land and marine areas, as well as areas that cross borders between countries. As of 2016, there are more than 161,000 protected areas worldwide, covering about 17% of Earth's land surface (excluding Antarctica).

For ocean areas under national control beyond inland waters, there are 14,688 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). These MPAs cover roughly 10.2% of coastal and marine regions and 4.12% of the world's oceans. However, only 0.25% of the ocean outside national control is protected by MPAs.

In recent years, the "30 by 30" initiative has aimed to protect 30% of Earth's oceans and 30% of its land by 2030. This goal has been supported by the European Union in its Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and promoted during the Convention on Biological Diversity's COP15 Summit and the G7 meetings. In December 2022, countries agreed to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at COP15, which includes the "30 by 30" initiative.

Protected areas are often created to help protect biodiversity by providing homes for threatened and endangered species and reducing hunting. These areas help keep natural processes alive in places where human activity is very high. However, Indigenous peoples and local communities often criticize strict protection methods, as enforcement of rules in these areas can sometimes involve forceful actions.

IUCN definition

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has provided a widely accepted definition of protected areas in its guidelines for categorizing these regions. Protected areas help reduce the effects of climate change in many ways:

• Stop harmful activities like fishing, hunting, building, farming, mining, cutting down trees, and sometimes entering the area.
• Helps reduce changes in where species live, the strength of storms, and the effects of rising sea levels.

• Helps fight ocean acidification by keeping coastal plants and algae healthy, increasing fish populations (which help balance ocean pH), and boosting natural carbon storage through the biological pump.
• Increases the number of animals and plants, how well species can survive, genetic variety, and the ability to adapt, which reduces the chance of extinction.

Protection of natural resources

Protected areas are created to protect biodiversity and to track how well conservation efforts are working. These areas often include other important zones, such as places that are vital for birds, plants, or communities. Examples include areas important for birds, places with unique plant life, lands managed by local communities, and regions that are key for protecting species from extinction. Protected areas may also be part of larger regions, such as land or ocean areas that are known for their unique ecosystems. Because of this, protected areas can involve many different types of management and leadership. Many groups, including government agencies, local communities, and private organizations, help manage these areas. Most management systems recognize the importance of involving local communities and sharing the benefits and responsibilities of protecting these areas. This has led to the identification of four main types of management, based on who makes decisions and who is responsible. Management of protected areas is now seen as a key factor in their success.

Globally, protected areas cover about 813 million hectares of forest, which is around 20% of all forest land. Asia has the largest share of forest in protected areas, with 26%. Since 1990, the area of forest in protected areas has increased by 251 million hectares. In 2025, 386 million hectares of forest are mainly protected to conserve soil and water, which is 123 million hectares more than in 1990. The growth in this type of protection has been especially fast in recent years. Europe has the largest area of forest protected for soil and water, at 173 million hectares, which is 17% of its total forest. Asia has the highest proportion of forest protected for this purpose, at 20%.

Protected areas can help protect a wide range of natural resources. Many are focused on saving plants and animals, but they also protect culturally important sites and valuable resources, such as:

• Carbon stocks: Deforestation causes about 20% of all carbon emissions. Protecting forests helps reduce these emissions and prevents long-term changes to land. About 15.2% of the world’s carbon is stored in protected areas. South America holds 27% of the world’s carbon, the highest amount of any continent.
• Rainforests: Protected areas cover 18.8% of the world’s forests. Sixteen of the twenty main forest types have at least 10% of their area protected. Of 670 forest-covered regions, 54% have 10% or more of their land protected.
• Mountains: Protected areas cover 14.3% of the world’s mountain regions. These areas make up 32.5% of all protected land globally. Mountain protection has increased by 21% since 1990. However, 43.9% of countries with mountain areas still protect less than 10% of their mountains.

Updates on these findings are shared each year to compare progress with goals like the Millennium Development Goals. Other areas, such as freshwater, oceans, islands, and drylands, are also being studied to better understand how well protected areas are managed.

Protection of biodiversity

Scientists can measure how well protected areas help protect wildlife by comparing how animal populations change over time. A study showed that the number of 2,239 land-based vertebrate species changed more slowly in protected areas. On average, these animal populations decreased by 0.4% each year in protected areas, compared to a decrease of 1.8% each year in similar places without protection.

Protection of ecosystem services

Protected areas are important because they help preserve natural resources and provide essential ecosystem services, even though people often do not notice them. While protecting biodiversity is the main reason for creating these areas, doing so also helps protect the ecosystem services that benefit society. Ecosystem services can be grouped into four types: those that provide and manage resources, those that support natural processes, and those that have cultural or aesthetic value. Provisioning services supply resources like water and fuel to humans. Regulating services help control the environment by storing carbon dioxide, managing the climate, and reducing disease risks. Supporting services involve processes like moving nutrients through ecosystems, and cultural services offer beauty and cultural value that support tourism and heritage. These services are often ignored because the ecosystems that provide them are usually far from cities. When pollution harms an ecosystem within a protected area, it reduces the usefulness of these services for people. For example, protecting a body of water helps maintain the microorganisms in that water, which filter out harmful substances and keep the water clean. Therefore, creating protected areas is important for keeping ecosystem services strong and consistent, allowing human society to benefit without relying on human-made structures or policies.

IUCN Protected Area Management Categories

The IUCN, through its World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), has created six Protected Area Management Categories. These categories describe protected areas based on their management goals. They are recognized by many national governments and the United Nations. The categories set international standards for defining protected areas and help plan conservation efforts according to their management purposes.

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 important parts of human history and culture. Protecting special places and natural resources is not a new idea. For example, indigenous groups have long protected sacred sites, and European leaders created hunting areas for many years. Over 2,000 years ago, kings in India passed laws to protect certain lands. In Europe, powerful people protected hunting grounds for about 1,000 years. The idea of protecting special places is found worldwide, such as in Pacific communities that use "tapu" areas and in parts of Africa that have sacred groves.

The oldest legally protected reserve in history is the Main Ridge Forest Reserve, created by a law on April 13, 1776. Other records mention a protected area on Khan Uul Mountain in Mongolia, approved in 1778 by the Qing Dynasty. However, the large-scale movement to create protected areas began in the late 1800s in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, with other countries joining later. In the 20th century, the reasons for protecting areas varied by region. In North America, the focus was on protecting beautiful landscapes; in Africa, the goal was to protect wildlife; and in Europe, protecting natural scenery was more common.

Creating protected areas often had political meaning. In the 17th and 18th centuries, protected areas were mostly hunting grounds for rulers. These areas showed the power of kings and were usually near their homes. By the late 1800s, modern countries with advanced transportation and communication systems could control large areas of land. This allowed governments to create nature reserves in remote regions, which also showed their authority over those lands.

At first, protected areas were recognized differently in each country until 1933. That year, an international meeting in London worked to create common standards and terms for protected areas. In 1962, a conference in Seattle acknowledged how the Industrial Revolution harmed the environment and agreed that protecting natural areas for future generations was important.

Since then, governments and organizations have worked together to manage and update systems for classifying protected areas. In 1972, the United Nations meeting in Stockholm said that protecting examples of all major ecosystems was essential for conservation. This idea became a key principle in conservation biology and was later included in agreements like the World Charter for Nature (1982), the Rio Declaration (1992), and the Johannesburg Declaration (2002).

Recently, the importance of protected areas has grown because of human-caused climate change and the need to use natural resources wisely. Protected areas are valued not only for their ecological benefits but also for their cultural importance, such as Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas (ICCAs). ICCAs are lands where local communities protect ecosystems and biodiversity using their own traditions and rules.

As of December 2022, 17% of land and 10% of ocean areas were protected. At the 2022 United Nations Biodiversity Conference, nearly 200 countries agreed to protect 30% of land and oceans by 2030 (known as the "30 by 30" goal).

Convention on Biological Diversity

In 1992, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) defined a protected area in paragraph 2 as "a specific place that is set up and managed to help protect nature and achieve conservation goals." Article 8 of the CBD required countries that joined the treaty to, among other actions, "create a system of protected areas." In 2004, the CBD's Conference of the Parties (COP) approved the Program of Work on Protected Areas (PoWPA) to improve and support the development of protected areas. The goal of PoWPA was to "create and maintain by 2010 for land areas and by 2012 for ocean areas complete, well-managed, and ecologically representative national and regional protected area systems. These systems would work together, including through a global network, to help meet the CBD's goals and the 2010 target of slowing the loss of biodiversity." In 2010, protected areas were included in Target 11 of the CBD's Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, called the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. Target 11 states:

In 2018, to support conservation efforts in landscapes, oceans, and rivers, the term "other effective area-based conservation measures" was defined as "a specific place that is not a protected area but is managed in ways that help protect biodiversity, support ecosystems, and preserve cultural, spiritual, and local values when possible." These measures work alongside protected areas to cover different environments. Protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures are mentioned together in Target 3 of the draft Global Biodiversity Framework. This framework is expected to be finalized at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, which will take place from December 5 to 17, 2022, in Montreal, Canada.

Challenges

Managing areas set aside for conservation involves many challenges, such as balancing the needs of local communities, protecting ecosystems, and designing effective reserves. Because nature is complex and unpredictable, each protected area needs its own unique rules to address its specific situation.

Keeping protected area boundaries clear is expensive and requires a lot of work, especially if new protected areas limit how local people use natural resources. This can lead to conflicts between conservationists and nearby communities, as some people may turn to illegal activities like hunting for bushmeat or trophies to survive. These activities have grown more common in recent years because some species are now harder to reach legally. To address these issues, governments often create new laws and policies, though some illegal actions still go unnoticed.

There is growing recognition that human needs must be considered when creating protected areas. Sometimes, these needs must be balanced with conservation goals. In the past, governments often decided about protected areas without consulting local people, but now, more attention is given to involving communities in decisions about how land is protected and managed. While these discussions are difficult, they often lead to better long-term outcomes for both nature and people.

In some regions, protected areas are created without the necessary tools or systems to replace resources people rely on or to prevent harmful development. Establishing protected areas may require rules that ensure enough food, fuel, and other resources are available, as well as laws to protect not only the area itself but also surrounding "buffer zones" that help prevent damage.

Protected Area Downgrading, Downsizing, and Degazettement (PADDD)

PADDD refers to changes in the legal status of protected areas, such as national parks or marine reserves. Downgrading means reducing rules that limit human activities within a protected area. Downsizing involves shrinking the size of a protected area through legal changes. Degazettement means removing all legal protection for a protected area. Together, these processes weaken or remove protections originally meant to preserve these areas.

Studies show that 3,749 PADDD events have occurred in 73 countries since 1892, affecting an area about the size of Mexico. Most PADDD events (78%) happened since 2000, and at least 46 PADDD proposals are being considered in 14 countries. The main reasons for PADDD include large-scale projects like mining, farming, and oil drilling.

PADDD challenges the idea that protected areas are permanent. It shows that leaders must consider both the features of protected areas and the social and economic needs of the people around them to ensure these areas remain protected over time.

Effectiveness

A main goal of protected areas is to stop the loss of different types of plants and animals. However, they are not very effective because they are often too small and far apart from one another, which makes it hard for species to survive. They also have limited ability to stop climate change, harmful plants and animals that spread to new areas, and pollution. Other problems include the high cost of managing these areas and the growing conflict between protecting nature and people's need for natural resources. Important factors that affect how well protected areas work include the kind of environment, the types of animals and plants there, legal challenges, and how they are managed, as shown in recent studies of areas in Madagascar managed by local communities.

One major issue is that only 18% of protected areas have been studied, so it is unclear how well most of them are working.

Bhutan as a role model

Scientists suggest that 50% of the world's land and oceans should be turned into connected protected areas to keep these benefits. The Asian country Bhutan reached this goal by setting aside 51.4% of its land as protected areas linked by paths for animals. These areas are controlled, with local people understanding their importance and helping to care for them. However, Bhutan is a developing country working on building infrastructure and gathering resources. This growth has caused conflicts between people and wildlife and added pressure on the protected areas. While debates continue about how land should be used, a study by Dorji (et al.) used camera traps to track wildlife and compare the variety of animals in Bhutan’s protected areas to those in nearby non-protected areas.

The study found that Bhutan’s protected areas "are successfully preserving medium and large mammal species, as shown by the clear differences in mammal diversity between protected areas, animal paths, and non-protected areas, with the greatest difference between protected areas and non-protected areas." Protected areas had the most diverse groups of mammals. This success is due to limits on commercial activities and controls on using resources like firewood and timber. These rules have helped protected areas support many types of carnivores and rare mammals, such as Chinese pangolins, Indian pangolins, mountain weasels, small-toothed ferret badgers, Asian small-clawed otters, tigers, dholes, binturongs, clouded leopards, and Tibetan foxes. Large herbivores like Asiatic water buffalo, golden langurs, musk deer, and Asian elephants were also found in high numbers. The survival of these important and endangered animals is due to how carefully Bhutan manages its protected areas and the dedication of local communities to protecting them.

By region

The National Heritage List is a register that lists places in Australia considered very important for heritage reasons. It was created in 2003 and includes natural and historical places, including those important to Indigenous Australians. Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) are areas protected through agreements with Indigenous Australians, who also declare them. These areas are a specific type of protected land.

China, a country with a wide variety of plant and animal life, has created many protected areas in recent years. By 2017, China had nearly 10,000 to 12,000 protected areas, 80% of which are nature reserves that help protect different types of plants and animals. These areas cover a range of environments, from tropical forests to ocean areas. Together, they protect about 20% of China’s land.

Natura 2000 is a network of protected areas across all European Union member states. It includes Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs), set up under two EU laws: the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive. These areas cover 787,767 km of land and 251,564 km of ocean. Overall, they protect about 18% of the EU’s land.

Protected areas in India include national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, biosphere reserves, forests, conservation areas, and other types of protected lands.

In Indonesia, laws about nature conservation are outlined in two main laws: UU no. 5 of 1990, which focuses on protecting biological resources and ecosystems, and UU no. 41 of 1999, which deals with forestry. Indonesia has over 500 protected areas, including 57 national parks and other reserves covering about 36.1 million hectares of land. These areas make up more than 18.9% of Indonesia’s total land.

Lebanon has some of the highest plant diversity in the Mediterranean region. It has laws to protect natural areas, including nature reserves, forests, and local community-based conservation efforts called Hima. Some of these areas have international recognition, such as:
– Four Ramsar sites (wetlands of international importance)
– Five UNESCO World Heritage Sites
– 15 Important Bird Areas (IBAs)
– One Specially Protected Area (SPA)
– Two Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMI)

Three biosphere reserves in Lebanon, designated by UNESCO, are:
1. Al Shouf Cedar Nature Reserve (2005)
2. Jabal Al Rihane Biosphere Reserve (2007)
3. Jabal Moussa Biosphere Reserve (2009)

O Parks, Wildlife, and Recreation is a private protected area managed by the O corporation International. It is not officially recognized by the government but helps protect biodiversity in the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, specifically in the Paso del Istmo region between Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific Ocean.

In the Philippines, protected areas are managed by the Biodiversity Management Bureau under the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act of 1992. As of 2020, the Philippines had 244 protected areas covering about 7.76 million hectares, or 15.4% of the country’s total land area.

On 21 May 2019, The Moscow Times reported that Russia has the most protected natural areas in the world, with 63.3 million hectares of specially protected land. However, the article did not include a link to the World Wildlife Fund’s report and may have used older data.

As of 31 January 2008, the United States had 6,770 federally designated protected areas covering about 2.6 million square kilometers, or 27.08% of the country’s land. This is about one-tenth of the world’s protected land.

According to a report from the Center for American Progress, the Biden administration helped protect more than 24 million acres of public land in three years. In 2023 alone, over 12.5 million acres became protected areas. The administration also signed 200 agreements with Indigenous communities for shared land stewardship. The goal is to protect 30% of the United States’ land and ocean areas by 2030.

In the United Kingdom, a conservation area is usually an urban or village area with special architectural or historical value. These areas are protected to prevent changes to buildings and trees. The idea was introduced in 1967, and by 2017, nearly 9,800 conservation areas had been created in England.

As of 2019, about 2.2% of England, or 2,938 square kilometers, was designated as a conservation area. Of these, 59% were in rural areas and 41% were in cities.