December 2020 update of the WDPA and WD-OECM

The total number of protected area records in the December 2020 release of the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is 261,004, comprising 240,621 polygons and 20,383 points and covering 245 countries and territories.

The total number of other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) in the December 2020 release of the WD-OECM is 143, comprising 143 polygons and 0 points and covering 3 countries and territories.

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Highlights:

The December 2020 update of the WDPA is a major one, with 30 countries updated. This release will inform many of the statistics in the forthcoming Protected Planet Report, and governments have made significant efforts to update their data as a result. The WD-OECM will also inform the report, and has been updated by Canada and Algeria in December. Follow us on Facebook @Protected Planet and Twitter @protectedplanet for more details in the build up to the report's launch.

Congo: Complete update for the Republic of Congo. All sites are now represented with polygons, and the addition of Ogooué-Lékéti National Park which was designated in 2018. This update was facilitated by the Observatoire des forêts d’Afrique Centrale (OFAC), supported by the BIOPAMA programme.

Lao People's Democratic Republic: This is a complete country update for Lao PDR (first update since 2008), which includes de addition of 3 National Parks, 4 National Proteced Areas and 3 Provincial Protected Areas.

Niue: Niue has designated a vast no-take Marine Protected Area. The Niue Moana Mahu Marine Protected Area covers 127,000 km2 and a large proportion of the country's Exclusive Economic Zone. This update was facilitated by the Secretariat for the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, supported by the BIOPAMA programme.

Burkina Faso: This is the first complete update of the national protected areas in Burkina Faso since 2003. This includes the addition of 2 Ecological Corridors, 5 Game Reserves, and 8 Classified Forests.

Algeria: Algeria has provided data on five large OECMs.

Kazakhstan: This is a partial update for Kazakhstan (first update since 1997) that adds 53 sites with national designations , including the MPA 'State Reserved Zone in Northern part of Caspian Sea', which covers 62,990 km2 and the 'South Kazakhstan State Reserved Zone', which covers an area of 78,875 km2. Now 30 sites that were previously represented by points are represented by polygons. - This update was facilitated by IUCN Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, in collaboration with UNDP

Venezuela (Bolivarian Repubilc of): This is the first update for Venezuela since 1996. Now all protected areas for Venezuela are polygons. This complete country update includes the addition of 68 protected areas. This update was facilitated by Grupo Redparques Venezuela.

Updated: Modifications/updates of the geometry and/or attributes of existing features in the WDPA or WD-OECM (i.e. features with existing WDPAIDs). Also covers features that have been verified as accurate (i.e. no changes need to be made). 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 (2020). Protected areas map of the world, November 2020 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.