The Human Impacts Database

A collection of useful numbers for quantifying the impacts of the human presence on Earth.

Area of terrestrial protected territories in Europe

This quantity comes from a time series measurement and the most recent value (2020) is reported.


Value:		≈ 1.8 × 10¹² m² see this value in other units This is equivalent to... ≈ 1.8 × 10⁶ km² ≈ 23% of total surface area
HuID:		70353
Relevant Year(s):		2020
Summary:		Surface area of terrestrial nationally designated protected sites in Europe, from 1838 to 2020. The establishment of protected areas is a direct response to concerns over biodiversity loss, so an indicator that measures protected area coverage is a valuable indication of commitment to conserving biodiversity and reducing biodiversity loss at a range of levels. Here, 'Europe' refers to the countries that are part of the European Environment Agency (EEA), which include the European Union Member States, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244/99), Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.
Method:		A 'nationally designated protected area' is an area protected by a national legislation. If a country has included sites designated under international agreements such as the EU Birds and Habitats Directives, or the Bern or Ramsar Convention in its legislation, the corresponding protected sites, such as the Natura 2000, Emerald or Ramsar sites, of this country are included in the indicator. One caveat of this indicator is that it does not describe the quality of management or whether or not the areas are protected from incompatible uses. The indicator needs to be complemented by information on management effectiveness or other elements that would indicate the potential of the designated area to protect biodiversity. No uncertainty is reported by participating countries.
Source:		European Environment Agency Nationally designated terrestrial protected areas in Europe. (2020)
Dataset:		Nationally designated terrestrial protected areas in Europe (protected_land_area_europe.csv) regional resolution
Trend:
Original Data License:		CC-BY 2.5 DK
Added By:		ilopezgo