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Databases & listings
IUCN Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas
· "...the first global standard of best practice for area-based conservation. It is a programme of certification
for protected and conserved areas – national parks, natural World Heritage sites, community
conserved areas, nature reserves and so on – that are effectively managed and fairly governed."
Protected Areas Data Portal @ National Gap Analysis Program (GAP) @ USGS
· A complete overview of the US protected areas data with full access.
· The public portal of the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), "the most
comprehensive global database of marine and terrestrial protected areas, updated on
a monthly basis, and is one of the key global biodiversity data sets being widely used
by scientists, businesses, governments, International secretariats and others to inform
planning, policy decisions and management" (see About).
· From a global persepective, this site is the "most comprehensive"—a great place to start.
Terrestrial protected areas @ World Bank data
General information
Protected area categories @ IUCN
Protected area downgrading, downsizing, and degazettement (PADDD)
· Project of Conservation International
· Beta site: PADDDtracker
Periodicals
Parks
Parks Stewardship Forum
Institutions ~ International organizations & initiatives
Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management Programme (BIOPAMA)
IUCN
World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA)
· “Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) are the most important places in the world for species and their
habitats. Faced with a global environmental crisis we need to focus our collective efforts on
conserving the places that matter most. The KBA Programme supports the identification, mapping,
monitoring and conservation of KBAs to help safeguard the most critical sites for nature on our
planet – from rainforests to reefs, mountains to marshes, deserts to grasslands and to the deepest
parts of the oceans.”
Panorama: Inspiring Protected Area Solutions
Institutions ~ Science & research institutions
Berkeley Institute for Parks, People, and Biodiversity
Center for Protected Area Management (CPAM) @ CSU
Institutions ~ Professional associations
Institutions ~ NGOs
World Heritage
World Heritage Convention & Centre @ UNESCO
· “UNESCO seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural
and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity."
Climate change & protected areas
Climate Adaptation Methodology for Protected Areas (CAMPA)
Natural solutions: Protected areas helping people cope with climate change
· Hosted by the IUCN
Protected areas and climate change
· WWF initiative focusing on the Amazon
Spatial Planning for Protected Areas in Response to Climate Change (SPARC)
· CI page
· GEF page
Protected areas (PAs)
Contents of this page:
· Databases & listings
· General information
· Periodicals
~ International organizations & initiatives
~ Science & research
~ Professional associations
~ NGOs
· World heritage
· Climate change & protected areas
Also see:
· Protected areas @ Indigenous peoples
· Biodiplomacy, where the majority of institutions & initiatives listed cover PAs, AbC & habitat conservation.
The IUCN defines protected area as “...a clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed,through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values.”
For information on specific protected areas, see Protected Planet.
Ran Wei of Brandeis University developed this page in 2019.
