Protected Planet

Protected Planet
Name	Protected Planet
Type	Online database
Established	2008
Owner	United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Url	[not displayed]

Protected Planet

Protected Planet is an online platform and database that aggregates data on terrestrial and marine protected areas worldwide. It serves as a central access point for spatial, legal, and attributional information on sites designated under national laws, international agreements, and voluntary designations, supporting reporting to intergovernmental processes and conservation organizations. The platform is operated by the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre in coordination with international partners and national authorities.

Overview

Protected Planet compiles entries for protected areas such as IUCN categories, Ramsar Convention sites, World Heritage Site natural properties, and nationally designated reserves. The platform synthesizes spatial datasets, legal texts, governance information, and management designations to inform processes like the Convention on Biological Diversity reporting, Aichi Biodiversity Targets monitoring, and assessments by organizations such as United Nations bodies and International Union for Conservation of Nature programs. Users include researchers from institutions like University of Cambridge, NGOs such as World Wildlife Fund and Conservation International, and agencies such as UNEP and national protected area agencies.

History and Development

The initiative evolved from earlier efforts by the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility to standardize protected-area data. Early prototypes were influenced by initiatives led by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre within the United Nations Environment Programme and collaborations with National Aeronautics and Space Administration projects that provided remote-sensing inputs. Key milestones include integration of the World Database on Protected Areas and formal launch phases coordinated with the Convention on Biological Diversity meetings and the United Nations General Assembly sustainable development discussions. Over time the platform incorporated inputs from national ministries such as the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and agencies like the United States Geological Survey to expand spatial coverage and legal metadata.

Data and Methodology

Protected Planet maintains standardized metadata fields drawn from schema developed with partners including IUCN, the Ramsar Convention, and the CBD Secretariat. Core data types include boundaries sourced as geospatial vector files, designation dates, governance types linked to frameworks like the Aichi Targets and Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, and attribute records for management effectiveness. Methodologies combine official national submissions, literature such as reports by BirdLife International and The Nature Conservancy, and satellite-derived analyses from programs like Landsat and the European Space Agency missions. Quality assurance uses cross-validation against national gazetteers, legal instruments, and peer-reviewed inventories from journals like Conservation Biology and Biological Conservation.

Global Coverage and Key Datasets

The platform aggregates global layers including the World Database on Protected Areas core dataset, marine protected area compilations aligned with UNCLOS principles, and thematic layers for sites recognized by the Ramsar Convention, UNESCO natural heritage listings, and transboundary conservation areas endorsed by World Commission on Protected Areas mechanisms. Regional datasets contributed by entities such as African Union, European Environment Agency, ASEAN, and Pacific Islands Forum expand coverage. Complementary datasets integrate species-range overlays from institutions like IUCN Red List and Global Biodiversity Information Facility occurrence records to support gap analyses and planning.

Governance and Partnerships

Governance is multi-institutional: the UNEP-WCMC acts as custodian in partnership with the IUCN and national authorities that submit official data. Partnerships span UN entities like UNESCO and FAO, conservation NGOs such as BirdLife International, academic centers like University of Oxford's conservation units, and funders including the Global Environment Facility and private foundations. Collaborative governance mechanisms align with processes through the Convention on Biological Diversity and reporting to the United Nations Statistics Division for Sustainable Development Goal indicators.

Impact and Criticism

Protected Planet has supported policy processes including national reporting to the Convention on Biological Diversity, monitoring toward SDG 14 and SDG 15, and informed planning for conservation NGOs such as The Nature Conservancy and WWF. It underpins scientific analyses published in outlets including Nature, Science, and conservation journals that examine protected-area effectiveness and representativeness. Criticisms include concerns raised by researchers at institutions like Stanford University and University of California, Santa Cruz about reliance on officially reported boundaries that may be outdated, the potential omission of Indigenous-managed lands recognized by organizations such as International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity, and limitations in representing on-the-ground management effectiveness highlighted in reports by Transparency International and governance scholars.

Access and Use Cases

The platform provides web-based mapping tools, downloadable geospatial layers used by planners at agencies such as UNEP and IUCN, and APIs consumed by research groups at University College London and conservation start-ups. Use cases include systematic conservation planning by NGOs like Conservation International, academic research on habitat connectivity by groups at Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, corporate biodiversity risk assessments for companies engaging with frameworks such as the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, and civil-society monitoring aligned with Open Data Charter practices. Data licensing and attribution requirements are governed by submission agreements with national authorities and partner institutions.

Category:Environmental databases Category:Protected areas