August 2024 update of the WDPA, WD-OECM and GD-PAME

The total number of records in the August 2024 release of the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is 304,744 (302,934 protected areas), comprising 292,713 polygons and 12,031 points and covering 244 countries and territories.

The total number of records in the August 2024 release of the World Database on Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (WD-OECM) is 6,485 (6,464 OECMs), comprising 6,343 polygons and 142 points and covering 15 countries and territories.

In addition, 871 assessment records from Brazil and 514 assessment records from Costa Rica were added in the August 2024 release of the Global Database on Protected Area Management Effectiveness (GD-PAME).

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Highlights:

This is the largest monthly update of the WDPA and WD-OECM in the history of both databases with the public WDPA release having passed 300,000 records for the first time this month. In August, data has been updated for 89 countries and territories and for all natural/mixed UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Four countries have added OECMs for the first time, bringing the total number of countries with reported OECMs to 15.

Bhutan: Complete update for Bhutan's data. This includes the first OECMs reported for the country with 12 OECMs in total being reported, all of which are Key Biodiversity Areas with conservation as a primary management objective and are managed by the Department of Forests and Park Services. Further to this, the update includes one new PA "Biological Corridor 9" which covers approximately 216 km and tabular data for 19 polygons was updated/verified.

Brazil: Complete update of Brazil's national datasets from the government data provider. This includes the addition of 155 new polygon PAs, the conversion of 106 points to polygons, the removal of one point, and the conversion of one point to a polygon, .

Japan: Complete update of Japan's data including the addition of Japan's first 159 OECMs.

Malawi: Update of Malawi's forest reserves by the Department of Forestry. This is the first update of these sites since 1993, which included the update of 26 sites from point data to polygon data and the addition of 34 sites.

Mauritius: Complete update of the protected area data for Mauritius, the first update since 2014. The update was carried out by the National Parks and Conservation Service, which is an institute of the Ministry of Agro Industry and Food Security, and was supported by the Ministry of Blue Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries and Shipping. All data was updated/verified and more complete attribute information was provided on the governance and management of the protected areas.

Pakistan: A complete update for Pakistan’s data. We are grateful for the major efforts of the UGPP/TBTTP-M&E Section, Ministry of Climate Change & Environmental Coordination in reviewing and updating the data. The update of covers all protected areas in Pakistan, some of which had not been updated since the 1990s. The total number of protected areas has now reached 477, including 102 polygons and 375 points. This represents 153,099km2 of land covered and 1,871km2 of marine and coastal area covered.

Republic of Korea: Complete update of the Republic of Korea's national protected areas data and this update also included the addition of the first 4 OECMs reported for KOR; Pusan National University research forest, DMZ GT Cherwon Crane Land, The Carthusian Order & Geumgang Special Conserved Area with reported areas approximately 0.87, 0.005, 1.29 & 40.25 km2 respectively.

Yemen: Complete update of national PAs in Yemen by the Environmental Protection Agency. The update includes 14 new protected areas, two existing points converted to polygons, and four previously reported points removed. This is the first update since 1990.

Several country updates were facilitated by regional entities and partners in collaboration with national governments:

• Updates of the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad and Gabon were facilitated by the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) in collaboration with the respective national Ministries.

• Update of Vanuatu was facilitated by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).

• Europe: A complete update of the Database of Nationally Designated Areas (formerly known as Common Database on Designated Areas) and Natura 2000 Network provided by the European Environment Agency, and a complete update of the Emerald Network provided by the Council of Europe. Together this update constitutes an update to over 130,000 nationally designated sites and almost 30,000 regionally designated sites across Europe. Notably, this update also included the first ever submission of OECM's for Sweden, with approximately 5,000 OECMs reported.
  

Removed: Number of features removed from the WDPA or WD-OECM (i.e. WDPAIDs removed from the databases).

Added: Number of features added to the WDPA or WD-OECM (i.e. new WDPAIDs created).

Map of protected areas and OECMs:

Citation: UNEP-WCMC (2024). Protected areas map of the world, August 2024. Available at: www.protectedplanet.net

Download this map

Summary of current data in preparation:

The data set status is defined as one of: 1) New Dataset Received, 2) Under Review by UNEP-WCMC, 3) Under Validation by Data Provider, or 4) Final Approval Stages.