Protected Areas

Butterflies near the Augusto Falls, Juruena National Park, Brazil.

The world's incredible biodiversity is worth saving not just in itself - species and the ecosystems they are part of provide essential goods and services that make human life possible and contribute enormously to our health and well-being.

Vital for species, habitats, and people

Multiple benefits

Protected areas can do more than just safeguard the world's biodiversity. Well-planned and well-managed protected areas can also contribute to human well-being, for example by helping to safeguard freshwater and food supplies, reduce poverty, and reduce the impacts of natural disasters.

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WWF's work on protected areas

Protected areas are one of the most effective tools for conserving species and natural habitats. They also contribute to the livelihoods and well-being of local communities and society at large.

Over the last 130 years, over 100,000 protected areas (national parks, sanctuaries, reserves, etc) have been established, covering some 12% of the Earth’s land surface - more than India and China put together.

This is an impressive accomplishment - and has contributed enormously to the conservation of many threatened and endangered species and habitats.

A long way to go
But despite this, several problems with the current network of protected areas mean that the world’s biodiversity and natural areas remain under threat. For example, many habitats, such as marine and freshwater areas, are not well-represented, while many protected areas are too small and isolated to conserve their habitats effectively. In addition, poor management of some protected areas is undermining conservation efforts.

What needs to be done?
Basically, governments need to declare many new protected areas as well as effectively manage existing ones and ensure connectivity between them.

The good news is that under international agreements, 190 governments have committed themselves to establishing a global network of comprehensive, well-managed, and representative terrestrial and marine protected areas - with a deadline of 2010 and 2012, respectively, for their delivery.

WWF's Protected Areas for a Living Planet programme is working to make sure they live up to their commitments!