Terrestrial and marine protected areas (% of total territorial area) by country

What this measures

Terrestrial protected areas are totally or partially protected areas of at least 1,000 hectares that are designated by national authorities as scientific reserves with limited public access, national parks, natural monuments, nature reserves or wildlife sanctuaries, protected landscapes, and areas managed mainly for sustainable use. Marine protected areas are areas of intertidal or subtidal terrain--and overlying water and associated flora and fauna and historical and cultural features--that have been reserved by law or other effective means to protect part or all of the enclosed environment. Sites protected under local or provincial law are excluded.

Limitations: The data source for this indicator is the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), the most comprehensive global dataset on marine and terrestrial protected areas available. The extent to which the land areas, including inland waters, and territorial waters of a country/territory are protected is useful for planning purpose to protect biodiversity. However, it is neither an indication of how well managed the terrestrial and marine protected areas are, nor confirmation that protection measures are effectively enforced. Further, the indicator does not provide information on non-designated or internationally designated protected areas that may also be important for conserving biodiversity.

Each country's latest available year is shown; countries report on different schedules, so compare years before comparing values.

Ranking

Regions and income groups

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Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, ER.PTD.TOTL.ZS, CC BY 4.0. Original source: Protected Planet: The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) and World Database on Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (WD-OECM), UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), uri: https://www.protectedplanet.net/en, publisher: Protected Planet, date acces… View on data.worldbank.org; the full definition is in the World Bank's metadata glossary.