United Nations List of Protected Areas

The United Nations List of Protected Areas is a compilation of all designated protected areas in the world. There have been fourteen edition since the publication of the first edition in 1961/62. The List, based upon Resolution 173 (XXVII) of the 1959 session of the UN Economic and Social Council, represents a testimony to the great political commitment that countries have shown towards this global conservation priority. The list has undergone several names changes from the "UN List of National Parks and Equivalent Reserves" to the "UN List on National Parks and Protected Areas" to from 2003 the "UN List of Protected Areas"

The first edition of the UN List, entitled the “United Nations List of National Parks and Equivalent Reserves", was published in two parts in 1961/62 and was launched at the first World Conference on National Parks held in Seattle, USA in 1962. Subsequent editions were published in 1966/71, 1972 (addendum to the 1966/71 edition), 1973, 1974, 1975, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1990, 1993, 1997 and 2003. The 1966/71, 1982 and 2003 editions were also launched at World Parks' events.

Since its inception the publication of the UN List has generated a lot of interest and has been a catalyst in the expansion of many countries' protected area networks through the development of new national legislative measures (IUCN 1971). This expansion in numbers and coverage of the protected area networks of countries apparent throughout the successive editions of the UN List is illustrative of an increased recognition by Governments and others of the need to conserve the Earth's natural places, and more recently of the need to move towards a more sustainable management and use of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

United Nations List of Protected Areas 2018

The 2018 edition of the UN List contains 238,563 protected areas covering an area of 46,414,431 km². The publication reviews progress since 2014. In those four years protected areas have expanded across both terrestrial and marine environments, with coverage under protection in the marine realm more than doubling in size. About 30,000 protected areas have been added representing an area equivalent to the area set aside for protection during the preceding ten years by the addition of 100,000 protected areas.

UN List 2018 Executive Summary [English]

UN List 2018 Executive Summary [French]

UN List 2018 Executive Summary [Spanish]

UN List 2018 Executive Summary [Russian]

UN List 2018 Executive Summary [Arabic]

UN List 2018 Executive Summary [Chinese]

UN List 2018 Executive Summary [Portuguese]

United Nations List of Protected Areas 2014

The 2014 United Nations List of Protected Areas is a compilation of all designated protected areas in the world. This is the fourteenth edition since the publication of the first edition in 1961/62 and provides information on over 209,000 designated marine and terrestrial protected areas covering more than 30 million km²,. It includes significant updates since the last edition published in 2003. The List represents a testimony to the great political commitment that countries have shown towards this global conservation priority and complements the Protected Planet Report's detailed assessment of Protected Areas by helping to track progress towards reaching the quantitative aspect of Aichi Biodiversity Target 11: how close we are to reaching 17 per cent coverage of terrestrial areas and inland waters and 10 per cent of nationally administered marine areas by 2020.

UN List 2014 Executive Summary [Spanish]

UN List 2014 Executive Summary [Russian]

UN List 2014 Executive Summary [Portuguese]

UN List 2014 Executive Summary [Chinese]

UN List 2014 Executive Summary [Arabic]

United Nations List of Protected Areas 2003

The 2003 United Nations List of Protected Areas is a compilation of all designated protected areas in the world. This is the thirteenth edition since the publication of the first edition in 1961/62 and provides information on over 100,000 designated marine and terrestrial protected areas covering more than 17.1 million km². The List represents a testimony to the great political commitment that countries have shown towards global conservation priorities.

Download United Nations List of Protected Areas 2003

United Nations List of Protected Areas 1997

The 1997 UN list of Protected Areas reveals a global network of over 30,000 protected areas designated under national legislation which covers 13.2 million km²of land, freshwater and sea, an area larger than Canada, and accounts for nearly 8 per cent of the world's land area, as well as 1.5 million km² of sea. This definitive list is arranged by country and classified by management aims, ranging from strict protection to protected areas managed for the sustainable use of natural ecosystems. Many protected areas designated by national authorities are also recognised for their international importance under global or regional conventions and programmes. Currently, there are some 891 Ramsar wetlands, 114 World Heritage sites, 352 biosphere reserves and 1,470 special protection areas, all of which are recorded in the 1997 UN list

Download United Nations List of Protected Areas 1997