The OECD is developing a method to report a more detailed and harmonised account of countries’ terrestrial and marine protected areas.

It applies a harmonised methodology to data from the World Database on Protected Areas. Analysing data on protected areas work in progress

CONTACT Head of Division Nathalie Girouard [email protected] Senior Economist Ivan Haščič [email protected] Statisticians Alexander Mackie [email protected] and Sarah Sentier [email protected] Communications Clara Tomasini [email protected]

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2 December 2016 International goals Methodology

the world database on protected areas

The OECD is developing an improved method to The OECD’s indicators are based on data Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) generate more detailed indicators on protected from the World Database on Protected Areas and its World Commission on Protected areas, both terrestrial and marine, for countries (WDPA), which is a geospatial database of Areas (WCPA). across the world. terrestrial and marine protected areas. The WDPA is updated monthly. It contains The WDPA is managed by the United information on more than 200 000 It applies a harmonised methodology to data Nations Environment Programme’s World protected areas. from the World Database on Protected Areas. Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP- WCMC) with support from the International

categories of management

By 2020, conserve at least 10 per cent of coastal and The World Database on Protected Areas lists zz Ia marine areas, consistent with national and international protected areas designated at national (IUCN zz Ib Area law and based on best available scientific information. categories I-VI), regional (e.g. the European zz II National Park Natura 2000 networks) or international Sustainable development goal 14.5 (e.g. biosphere reserves) levels. The first zz III Natural Monument United Nations Development Programme IUCN categories are more motivated by the zz IV Habitat/Species Management Area preservation of ecosystems and , zz V Protected Landscape/Seascape and the latter are more intended as live-in zz VI with sustainable use areas. Importantly, these categories only of natural resources. Take urgent and significant action to reduce the inform on management objectives, not on zz No IUCN category degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of how effective the management actually is. biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent zz Regional or international designation. the extinction of threatened species. accounting for overlaps

Sustainable development goal 15.5 Some protected areas are reported under The OECD followed the same method, with United Nations Development Programme several management categories. For example, three refinements: areas of a national park can be reported as zz It also includes protected areas smaller both Ia - Strict Nature Reserve and II - National than 100 km2. Park. Simply adding up the categories could zz It reports separately on nationally and By 2020, at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland make protected areas seem larger. water areas and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, regionally or internationally designated The Digital Observatory for Protected Areas protected areas. especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity (DOPA), a project funded by the European zz Protected areas reported less precisely and ecosystem services, are conserved [...] Commission’s Joint Research Center, reports as points (for example, estimated as a areas exclusive of any overlapping more Aichi Target 11 of the Convention of Biological Diversity 50 km2 buffer around a specific point) strictly protected areas. are accounted for separately.

2 3 PRELIMINARY RESULTS PRELIMINARY RESULTS 54% Slovenia 88% Terrestrial Poland Marine Germany 45% protected Slovak Rep* protected Greece areas areas Brazil Pristine wilderness or lived-in UK Marine protected areas are charted natural parks? This chart Austria* as a share of each country’s gives a synoptic view of how Spain exclusive economic zone (EEZ). protected areas are used France The figures presented here in different countries. Belgium summarise protection only within Hungary* national jurisdictions (EEZ). Countries are ranked by the Globally, about 4% of oceans are terrestrial area protected in Portugal protected (UNEP-WCMC). categories Ia to IV. Such analysis Czech Rep* by IUCN category was not Chile The variation is striking between previously available. Italy Iceland, Norway, India and Saudi Arabia, where less than 1% of the EEZ In countries like Poland, Germany, Costa Rica Israel are designated as protected areas, Slovenia and the United Kingdom, and , Germany and New Estonia the majority of protected areas are Zealand on the other, with more than Japan nationally designated under IUCN 25% of their EEZ. category V, which is primarily Luxembourg* Some countries, such as the United concerned with landscape Latvia States, France, Australia and the conservation, whereas Estonia, Iceland United Kingdom, have extensive Finland, Sweden and the United Norway small-island overseas territories, that States have a notable amount Australia 40% of near-pristine wilderness. are often rich in marine biodiversity. Lithuania Other countries, like Ireland, use They are reported separately (and not mainly regional and international Denmark included in this graph). designations such as Natura 2000. Finland Sweden

Ia - Strict natural reserve Ireland Nationally designated Ib - Colombia marine protected area II - National park China Additional area with III - Natural monument regional or international designation IV Habitat/Species Netherlands management area * Landlocked country V, VI or no category Indonesia Additional area with regional or international designation Mexico Source: OECD calculations based Aichi target Argentina on April 2016 version of WDPA. Canada 4 Russia 5 Korea Switzerland* India Saudi Arabia Turkey 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Historical patterns Interpretation and limitations

Between 1970 and 2010, new terrestrial protected areas were The World Database on Protected Areas is the most comprehensive designated at a consistently high rate. Designation of marine protected global database on protected areas. However, it is neither complete nor areas was slow until 2000. Since then, they increased by more than perfectly accurate, depending on country submissions. 10 million square kilometres, which is approximately the size of Canada. 14 z z Marine protected areas z IUCN categories are not intended as a z Occasionally, large areas are recorded Designation of protected areas Regional or 2 ) 12 hierarchical system. They do indicate, as points (for example, 50 km around 2 in OECD and G20 countries international designation No IUCN category to some extent, what activities are specific GPS coordinates) or are not permitted in the area, the likely associated with an IUCN category. 10 VI - Protected area with sustainable use of pristineness of the ecosystem and natural resources zz Results may not fully align with 8 the likely motivation for biodiversity V - Protected landscape summaries published elsewhere, or seascape protection. because there are often differences

6 IV - Habitat/Species zz Some of the “no-category” may meet in country coverage, in how country management area III - Natural monument the definition of a specific IUCN, even territories are defined, and in what

Protected area coverage (millions of km area Protected 4 though they are not recorded as such. types of protected areas designations II - National park are included in these analyses. zz Categories do not give any indication 2 of the actual level of protection and Ib - Wilderness area Ia - Strict natural reserve management effectiveness of these areas. 0 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2015

Historical data can also give an overview of individual countries’ approaches. Brazil, for example, designated protected areas quite recently. Relatively little of this very biodiverse country is strictly protected. The United States figure shows the recent expansion of its national marine protected areas. Next steps

Designation of protected areas Designation of protected areas 30 in Brazil in the United States The method for analysing protected areas data presented here has recently been used in 25 some OECD Environmental Performance Reviews and other environmental policy research.

20 The indicator and related working paper will be published in 2017, on OECD.Stat and OECD 15 iLibrary. They will be included in the forthcoming Green Growth Indicators report.

10 Combining the information on protected areas with other geospatial datasets will allow to

% land area or EEZ area % land area 5 refine these indicators, to show sub‑national summaries (by state or region); indicators by 0 land cover or ecosystem type. 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2015 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2015 Source: OECD calculations based on April 2016 version of WDPA.

6 PRELIMINARY RESULTS 7