Protectedplanet.net is the new face of the World Database on
Protected Areas (WDPA), a joint initiative of IUCN and UNEP’s
World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Its humble beginnings
started 30 years ago as a basic global list of national parks
and has evolved into the only global, spatially referenced
information source on parks and protected areas.
Protectedplanet.net not only showcases this wealth of
information but also give tools to willing ‘citizen scientists’
who can feed their knowledge about protected areas into the
WDPA. The World Database is supported by members of IUCN’s World
Commission on Protected Areas members all over the world.
Contributions and updates come from both government and non-
government organisations. Who uses the World Database on
Protected Areas? The World Database on Protected Areas provides
information on the coverage and distribution of protected areas.
These are two key indicators for global policy and decision
making. The protected area coverage indicator measures policy re