EARTHTRENDS DATA TABLES TECHNICAL NOTES: Protected Areas 2005 For more information, please consult http://earthtrends.wri.org VARIABLE DEFINITIONS AND METHODOLOGY Number and Extent of Protected Areas by IUCN category. These data refer to the percent of total land area that is designated as protected under various International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN or World Conservation Union) Categories in the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA). These data include terrestrial areas only; marine areas are not included. An IUCN Management Protected Area is defined by IUCN as, “an area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means.” The WDPA consortium has been working to produce an improved and updated database available in the public domain. Summary information presented in WPDA, of which the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) is the custodian, includes legal designation, name, IUCN Management Category, size in hectares, location (latitude and longitude), and the year of establishment for over 100,000 sites. For inclusion in this data set, protected areas must be specifically designated by a national government and also be larger than 1,000 hectares. IUCN categorizes protected areas by management objective and has identified six distinct categories of protected areas: Category Ia. Strict nature reserve: A protected area managed mainly for scientific research and monitoring; an area of land and/or sea possessing some outstanding or representative ecosystems, geological or physiological features and/or species. Category Ib. Wilderness area: A protected area managed mainly for wilderness protection; a large area of unmodified or slightly modified land and/or sea retaining its natural character and influence, without permanent or significant habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural condition. Category II. National park: A protected area managed mainly for ecosystem protection and recreation; a natural area of land and/or sea, designated to: (a) protect the ecological integrity of one or more ecosystems for present and future generations; (b) exclude exploitation or occupation inimical to the purposes of designation of the area; and (c) provide a foundation for spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational and visitor opportunities, all of which must be environmentally and culturally compatible. Category III. Natural monument: A protected area managed mainly for conservation of specific natural features; an area containing one or more specific natural or natural/cultural features that is of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative or aesthetic qualities, or cultural significance. Category IV. Habitat/species management area: A protected area managed mainly for conservation through management intervention; an area of land and/or sea subject to active intervention for management purposes so as to ensure the maintenance of habitats and/or to meet the requirements of specific species. Category V. Protected landscape/seascape: A protected area managed mainly for landscape/seascape conservation and recreation; an area of land, with coast and sea as appropriate, where the interaction of people and nature over time has produced an area of distinct character with significant aesthetic, ecological and/or cultural value, and often with high biological diversity. Category VI. Managed resource protected area: A protected area managed mainly for the sustainable use of natural ecosystems; an area containing predominately unmodified natural systems, managed to ensure long term protection and maintenance of biological diversity, while also providing a sustainable flow of natural products and services to meet community needs. Category Other. Protected areas that do not fit into one of the IUCN categories. For IUCN Category tables showing number and area by country, all Marine and Littoral sites were excluded for analysis. Protected Areas as a Percent of Total Land Area is the percentage of a country or region’s total land area that is designated a terrestrial protected area by the World Conservation Union in categories I-VI and Other as defined and categorized by the IUCN. Marine and Littoral areas are excluded Number of Protected Areas by Land Area represents the number of World Conservation Union protected sites in categories I-VI and Other as defined and categorized by the IUCN. Data distinguish protected area sites that exceed 100,000 hectares and protected area sites that exceed 1 million hectares. Number of Marine or Littoral Protected Areas. These data include marine protected areas, littoral protected areas, and protected areas with both marine and littoral components. All are assigned an IUCN category (I-VI). IUCN defines a Marine Protected Area as: “any area of intertidal or subtidal terrain, together with its overlaying water and associated flora and fauna, historical and cultural features, which has been reserved by law or other effective means to protect part or all of the enclosed environment.” These marine protected areas (MPAs) include areas that are fully marine and areas that have only a small percentage of intertidal land. Many MPAs have large terrestrial areas. The extent of the marine portion of most protected areas is rarely documented. The degree of protection varies from one country to another, and may bear little relationship to the legal status of any site. “Littoral” is defined as any site which is known to incorporate at least some intertidal area. All marine or littoral protected areas fall into one of IUCN six management categories. See above for category definitions. Ramsar Sites, or Wetlands of International Importance, are defined under the Wetlands Convention, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971. In order to qualify as a Ramsar site, an area must have, “international significance in terms of ecology, botany, zoology, limnology or hydrology.” The Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. There are presently 133 Contracting Parties to the Convention, with 1,421 wetland sites totaling 123.9 milion hectares, designated for inclusion in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance. Based on country reports, data were collected by UNEP-WCMC. The WDPA Consortium, comprised of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) worldwide has been working with UNEP-WCMC to improve the quality of the database. WRI calculated Protected Areas in each country and category by joining the WDPA geographic information system (GIS) point file containing all nationally-designated protected areas, with a corresponding table showing area in hectares (provided by UNEP-WCMC). The original file was modified to exclude the following sites, as recommended by UNEP-WCMC: 1. All sites with DESIGNATE field marked “Cloud Forest Sites” and “Cloud Forest Regions” were excluded. 2. All sites with STATUS field marked “Degazetted”, “Proposed”, “In preparation”, “Recommended”, “Unknown”, and “Unset” were excluded. 3. All sites with negative numbers in SITE_CODE field were excluded. FREQUENCY OF UPDATE BY DATA PROVIDERS Protected Areas Data (Including Marine Protected Areas) The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) Consortium is continually working to improve the quality and comprehensiveness of the WPDA. This dataset is updated yearly and based on the latest version available as of November 2004. DATA RELIABILITY AND CAUTIONARY NOTES Protected Areas Due to variations in methodologies of data collection, the consistency and accuracy of information regarding protected areas can be highly variable among countries. This is particularly true of data on extent of coverage; values may be underreported by many countries. In addition, although many countries update their information with great regularity, others do not. Furthermore, international organizations may not have complete information regarding all aspects of protected areas for each individual country. Marine or Littoral Protected Area Data These marine protected areas (MPAs) include areas that are fully marine and areas that have only a small percentage of intertidal land. Many MPAs have large terrestrial areas. The extent of the marine portion of most protected areas is rarely documented. The degree of protection varies from one country to another, and may bear little relationship to the legal status of any site. SOURCES United Nations Environment Programme – World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). 2004. World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA). CD-ROM. Available on-line at: http://sea.enep-wcmc.org/wdbpa/download/wdpa2004/index.html. Cambridge, U.K.