Basic knowledge

Protected areas are essential to the conservation of biodiversity. They safeguard nature and cultural resources and contribute to livelihoods, particularly at the local level. There are over 238 563 designated protected areas worldwide, equivalent to 14.9 percent of the earth’s land surface, varying in their extension, level of protection and type of management (IUCN, 2018).

Forest protected areas are a subset of all protected areas in which a significant portion of the area is forest; this may be the whole or only a part of the protected area

Currently, around 17 percent of the world’s natural forests are located within legally established protected areas (FAO, 2015). Considering that the area of forest within protected areas has increased by 200 million ha since 1990, particularly in the tropics, forest protected areas are now considered to be the cornerstone of any national or international strategy to conserve forest ecosystems, combat the loss of biodiversity and to secure the sustainable provision of ecosystem services. 

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recognize protected areas as a key strategy for the conservation of biodiversity and for sustainable development in the targets they contain; for example, SDG 14: Life below water, and SDG 15: Life on land. Other SDGs provide opportunities to highlight the contribution of protected areas to human welfare and wellbeing including poverty alleviation (SDG 3: Good health and well-being), food and water security (SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation), sustainable cities (SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities) and climate change strategies (SDG13: Climate action) and others. A summary of how protected areas contribute towards meeting the SDGs can be found here.

As the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity 2011–2020 comes to an end, and as attention turns towards the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, protected areas are expected to continue to play a pivotal role in the conservation of biodiversity and to secure the sustainable provision of benefits for people and the planet.

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