⚠️ Unconfirmedenvironmental2024

Share of protected area that is designated for biodiversity conservation (Protected Area Management Categories I–IV)

Name: Share of protected area that is designated for biodiversity conservation (Protected Area Management Categories I–IV)
Creator: UNEP-WCMC & IUCN (World Database on Protected Areas, WDPA)
Keywords: statistic-of-the-day, ai-generated, protected areas, biodiversity, conservation, IUCN categories, WDPA, environment policy, nature protection

Compare countries by the share of their protected areas under IUCN-style biodiversity-focused categories (I–IV), from WDPA data (latest year).

Source: UNEP-WCMC & IUCN (World Database on Protected Areas, WDPA)•176 countries

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Key Insights

Global Average

34.5%

Median: 33.0%

Countries Covered

176

with available data

Highest

Andorra

68.1%

Lowest

Qatar

10.8%

Top 5 Countries

1Andorra68.1%

2Costa Rica66.7%

3Barbados63.9%

4Maldives63.1%

5Honduras62.4%

By Region

Oceania53.6%(2 countries)

North America47.1%(4 countries)

South America40.6%(7 countries)

Other40.3%(97 countries)

Africa35.4%(9 countries)

Key Findings

•Countries can have similar protected-area coverage yet differ greatly in how much is managed under stricter biodiversity-conservation categories (I–IV).
•A high value suggests a larger portion of the protected-area network is oriented toward biodiversity conservation rather than multi-use landscapes.
•Cross-country comparisons are most meaningful where management category reporting is complete and up to date.

Country Rankings

Top 10 Countries

Bottom 10 Countries

Data Analysis

Value Distribution

How countries are distributed across the value range

Low (0.0%)High (100.0%)

Regional Comparison

Average values by world region (Global avg: 34.5%)

Oceania (2)

North America (4)

South America (7)

Other (97)

Africa (9)

Asia (26)

Europe (31)

About This Statistic

This statistic measures how much of each country’s protected area estate is set aside primarily for biodiversity conservation under stricter management approaches—equivalent to IUCN protected area management categories I–IV (Strict Nature Reserve, Wilderness Area, National Park, Habitat/Species Management Area). It is expressed as a percentage of the country’s total area that is reported as protected in the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA).

It offers a different view than “% of land protected” because it highlights protection quality/intensity, not just extent. Two countries may protect a similar share of land, but one may rely more on multi-use protected landscapes (e.g., V–VI) while another concentrates protection in stricter biodiversity-focused categories (I–IV). Results depend on how protected areas are reported and categorized in WDPA and on the completeness of management-category coding.

Full Data

Rank ↑	Country ↕	Value ↕
1	Andorra	68.1%
2	Costa Rica	66.7%
3	Barbados	63.9%
4	Maldives	63.1%
5	Honduras	62.4%
6	Panama	62.0%
7	Belize	61.1%
8	Nicaragua	60.8%
9	Fiji	60.3%
10	Bermuda	59.4%
11	New Caledonia	59.0%
12	Suriname	58.9%
13	Madagascar	58.6%
14	Cape Verde	58.0%
15	Mauritius	57.9%
16	Bolivia	57.8%
17	El Salvador	57.2%
18	Peru	56.5%
19	Guyana	56.0%
20	Brunei Darussalam	55.7%
21	Trinidad and Tobago	55.5%
22	Ecuador	54.8%
23	Australia	54.3%
24	United Republic of Tanzania	54.1%
25	Guatemala	53.6%
26	Namibia	53.0%
27	New Zealand	52.9%
28	Mozambique	52.6%
29	Comoros	52.2%
30	Benin	51.5%
31	Jamaica	50.6%
32	Ethiopia	49.9%
33	Rwanda	49.5%
34	Canada	49.2%
35	Malawi	49.1%
36	Papua New Guinea	48.7%
37	Zambia	48.2%
38	Kenya	47.9%
39	Uganda	47.6%
40	Solomon Islands	47.4%
41	Austria	46.9%
42	Somalia	46.5%
43	Vanuatu	46.0%
44	Cuba	45.6%
45	Timor-Leste	45.2%
46	Republic of The Gambia	44.8%
47	Morocco	44.6%
48	Venezuela	44.3%
49	Botswana	44.2%
50	Zimbabwe	44.1%
51	Lesotho	44.0%
52	United States of America	43.5%
53	Dominican Republic	43.1%
54	Brazil	42.6%
55	Mexico	42.0%
56	Djibouti	41.9%
57	Albania	41.7%
58	Paraguay	41.3%
59	Libya	41.0%
60	Chad	40.8%
61	Sierra Leone	40.4%
62	Cote d'Ivoire	39.8%
63	Burkina Faso	39.6%
64	Cameroon	39.5%
65	Guinea-Bissau	39.0%
66	Bosnia and Herzegovina	38.9%
67	Mali	38.6%
68	Ghana	38.2%
69	Colombia	37.8%
70	Armenia	37.1%
71	Togo	36.7%
72	Cayman Islands	36.4%
73	Niger	36.1%
74	Senegal	35.8%
75	Gabon	35.6%
76	Kyrgyzstan	35.3%
77	Virgin Islands, British	35.0%
78	Chile	34.9%
79	Philippines	34.7%
80	Uruguay	34.6%
81	Antigua and Barbuda	34.5%
82	Tajikistan	34.4%
83	Mauritania	34.2%
84	Indonesia	34.0%
85	South Sudan	33.9%
86	Cambodia	33.7%
87	Afghanistan	33.2%
88	Nigeria	33.1%
89	Malaysia	32.8%
90	Burundi	32.6%
91	Japan	31.9%
92	Vietnam	31.6%
93	Democratic Republic of the Congo	31.4%
94	Yemen	31.0%
95	Lao People's Democratic Republic	30.9%
96	Guinea	30.8%
97	Thailand	30.6%
98	Central African Republic	30.2%
99	Angola	29.8%
100	Iceland	29.6%
101	Republic of the Congo	29.1%
102	Sudan	29.0%
103	Israel	28.9%
104	Haiti	28.7%
105	South Korea	28.4%
106	Myanmar	28.3%
107	Cyprus	28.0%
108	Norway	27.7%
109	Algeria	27.5%
110	Georgia	27.2%
111	Sri Lanka	26.8%
112	Mongolia	26.1%
113	Nepal	25.9%
114	Bahrain	25.6%
115	Kazakhstan	25.2%
116	Uzbekistan	25.0%
117	Malta	24.9%
118	Bhutan	24.7%
119	Eswatini	24.6%
120	Greece	24.4%
121	Egypt	24.1%
122	Taiwan, Province of China	24.0%
123	South Africa	23.9%
124	Pakistan	23.8%
125	Tunisia	23.7%
126	Denmark	23.6%
127	Jordan	23.3%
128	Argentina	22.9%
129	India	22.6%
130	Russian Federation	22.4%
131	Spain	22.3%
132	Croatia	22.1%
133	Portugal	21.9%
134	Monaco	21.5%
135	Belgium	21.3%
136	Eritrea	21.0%
137	France	20.7%
138	Ireland	20.4%
139	Sweden	20.2%
140	United Kingdom	20.1%
141	Czech Republic	19.8%
142	Poland	19.6%
143	Switzerland	19.5%
144	Italy	19.4%
145	Türkiye	19.2%
146	Bulgaria	19.1%
147	Moldova, Republic of	19.0%
148	Hungary	18.9%
149	Slovakia	18.8%
150	People's Republic of China	18.7%
151	Lithuania	18.6%
152	Bahamas	18.4%
153	Romania	18.3%
154	Lebanon	18.1%
155	Ukraine	18.0%
156	Latvia	17.9%
157	Estonia	17.6%
158	Slovenia	17.5%
159	The Republic of North Macedonia	17.3%
160	Islamic Republic of Iran	17.2%
161	Serbia	17.1%
162	Bangladesh	16.8%
163	Montenegro	16.7%
164	Iraq	16.5%
165	Finland	16.2%
166	Syrian Arab Republic	16.0%
167	Netherlands	15.8%
168	Belarus	14.9%
169	Singapore	14.3%
170	Luxembourg	14.1%
171	Saudi Arabia	12.7%
172	Greenland	12.5%
173	Kuwait	12.2%
174	United Arab Emirates	11.6%
175	Oman	11.3%
176	Qatar	10.8%

Showing 176 of 176 countries

Topics

#statistic-of-the-day #ai-generated #protected areas #biodiversity #conservation #IUCN categories #WDPA #environment policy #nature protection

Data Source

This data comes from UNEP-WCMC & IUCN (World Database on Protected Areas, WDPA) (2024).

View Original Source