Protected areas
Protected areas are crucial for wildlife conservation and sustainable use as they serve as habitats for numerous wildlife species. They play a vital role in landscape management, balancing agricultural production with protection goals, maintaining genetic resources, and safeguarding the livelihoods of local communities and cultural landscapes. Currently, around 18% of the world’s forests are located within legally established Protected Areas (FAO, 2020). Forest protected areas help conserve ecosystems that provide habitat, shelter, food, raw materials, genetic materials, a barrier against disasters, and indirect benefits like employment and income, sustaining livelihoods.
Protected areas are acknowledged in various international policy processes, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals, the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (esp. Target 3), and the Ramsar Convention.
FAO's Involvement
FAO assists Members in managing protected areas by:
- Enhancing governance and fostering cross-border cooperation.
- Strengthening the capacity for community-based conservation management, with a particular focus on Indigenous Peoples and local communities residing in and around protected areas.
- Building resilience to climate change within protected areas and establishing sustainable financing mechanisms
- Developing normative products, including guidelines, manuals, and case studies, pertaining to the conservation and management of protected areas.
Since 1997, the FAO Office for Latin America and the Caribbean has served as the technical secretariat for the Latin American Technical Cooperation Network on National Parks, other Protected Areas, and Wildlife (REDPARQUES).
Relevant resources
Highlights
Protected Areas, People and Food Security
2014
Protected areas have an important role to play in rising to the challenge of food security. At a global level, millions of people depend on protected...