Making sense of protected areas

The role of the IUCN category systems

Nigel Dudley, for Conservation International

This presentation introduces the IUCN protected area categories and explains how they can be used to record national protected area data and to plan protected area systems

Lamington National Park, Queensland, Australia

Protected areas cover ~11.3% of the world’s land surface and a growing amount of ocean – most have been set up in the last fifty years. This is the largest and fastest conscious change in management objective in history.

Serengeti National Park and World Heritage site, Tanzania

But protected areas differ greatly in their management objectives – ranging from those focusing almost entirely on conservation…

Jirisan National Park, South Korea

… to protected landscapes or protected areas with sustainable use, where conservation takes place alongside other land uses

Protected areas also vary with respect to who is in charge…ranging from government employees to local communities

Nyika National Park, Malawi, plus stakeholders in Senegal and Madagascar

… they differ in size from huge to tiny [statistics to come]…

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania and (inset) proposed strict nature reserve, Madagascar

Kaziranga National Park in India, has built its population of rhino from a handful to over 1600

…in the effectiveness with which they conserve biodiversity…

…and in the range of values that they contain, from ecosystem services, through geodiversity and ecotourism…

Avalanche control Switzerland; inset Dorset World Heritage Site UK and private reserve Namibia

Montserrat National Park, Spain: (2nd inset) Rilla National Park, Bulgaria; (3rd inset) Japan

…to cultural and spiritual values

IUCN and the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre have developed a typology of protected area management objectives to help to distinguish different approaches and aid reporting in the World Database on Protected Areas

The system includes a definition of a protected area and six management categories, one of which is divided into two subsections

Namib Desert National Park, Namibia

DEFINITION OF A PROTECTED AREA

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

DEFINITION OF A PROTECTED AREA

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

DEFINITION OF A PROTECTED AREA

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

DEFINITION OF A PROTECTED AREA

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

DEFINITION OF A PROTECTED AREA

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

DEFINITION OF A PROTECTED AREA

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

Twelve Apostles marine protected area, Victoria, Australia

To be recognised as a protected area, a site must first fit the definition of a protected area; it can then be assigned a category

Strict nature reserve: mainly for science or wilderness protection IaWilderness area: mainly for wilderness protection IbNational park: mainly for ecosystem protection and recreation IINatural monument: mainly for conservation of specific natural features IIIHabitat / species management area: mainly for conservation of species and habitat

IV

Protected landscape / seascape: mainly for landscape/seascape conservation or recreation

V

Managed resource protected area: mainly for the sustainable use of natural resources

VI

Fitting within the definition, the protected area categories encompass the full range of accepted management models