Australia

12476 Total Protected Areas

1501 With management effectiveness evaluations

Terrestrial Protected Areas

Marine Protected Areas

Other effective area-based conservation measures

0 Total Other effective area-based conservation measures

Polygons/Points ratio

Polygons 100%

Points 0%

Terrestrial Protected Areas Coverage

19.39% Coverage

1,497,070km² Land Area Protected

7,722,102km² Total Land Area

16% 5th National Report Coverage

PAME

3.93% With management effectiveness evaluations

303,594km² Areas Assessed

Marine Protected Areas Coverage

40.84% Coverage

3,035,630km² Marine and Coastal Area Protected

7,432,133km² Marine Area Protected

36% 5th National Report Coverage

PAME

5.1% With management effectiveness evaluations

378,806km² Areas Assessed

Disclaimer: These statistics might differ from those reported officially by countries due to difference in methodologies and datasets used to assess protected area coverage and differences in the base maps used to measure terrestrial and marine area of a country or territory.

Latest National Report Link

Governance types

Sub-national ministry or agency 7025 View list
Individual landowners 2821 View list
Joint governance 2324 View list
Not Reported 86 View list
Non-profit organisations 84 View list
Indigenous peoples 75 View list
Federal or national ministry or agency 61 View list

Sources (2)

Protected Areas of Australia Updated: 2020 Australian Department of the Environment and Energy
UNESCO World Heritage Sites Updated: 2020 IUCN World Heritage Programme

Designations

National designations

12389

Nature Reserve 1794
National Park 680
Marine Park 51
Forest Reserve 94
Nature Park 10
National Park (Commonwealth) 4
National Park Aboriginal 30
Conservation Park 583
Wilderness Park 3
State Park 26
Marine National Park 14
Recreation Park 13
State Reserve 66
Game Reserve 22
Conservation Area 425
Fish Habitat Area (A) 55
National Parks Act Schedule 4 park or reserve 7
Natural Features Reserve 2495
Regional Park 20
Resource Reserve 50
Historic Site 31
Hunting Reserve 1
Marine Nature Reserve 4
Nature Conservation Reserve 258
Fish Habitat Area (B) 36
Aquatic Reserve 12
Marine Managed Area 2
State Conservation Area 120
Conservation Covenant 2233
Wilderness Protection Area 14
Regional Reserve 155
Reference Area 144
Marine Conservation Area 14
Other Conservation Area 6
Conservation Reserve 61
Nature Recreation Area 25
5(1)(h) Reserve 126
5(1)(g) Reserve 45
Private Nature Reserve 94
Marine Sanctuary 11
Permanent Park Preserve 1
Botanic Garden 4
Indigenous Protected Area 75
Historical Reserve 4
Proposed National Parks Act park or park addition 6
Coastal Reserve 1
Other Conservation Area or Nature Park 1
Australian Marine Park 57
Nature Refuge 522
Heritage River 18
Natural Catchment Area 25
Private Sanctuary 23
Remote and Natural Area - Schedule 6, National Parks Act 22
Wilderness Zone 20
Remote and Natural Area - not scheduled under Nat Parks Act 2
Heritage Agreement 1542
Coordinated Conservation Area 2
Other 3
Karst Conservation Reserve 4
CCA Zone 1 National Park 34
CCA Zone 3 State Conservation Area 23
Aboriginal Area 3
Flora Reserve 73
NRS Addition - Gazettal in Progress 75
National Park (Scientific) 9
Management Area 6

Regional designations

International designations

UNESCO-MAB Biosphere Reserve 9
Ramsar Site, Wetland of International Importance 63
World Heritage Site (natural or mixed) 15

Growth in protected area coverage

The graph excludes status years with no information reported (STAT_YR = 0).

Australia Protected Areas

View all

Wyrrabalong

Sturt

Blue Mountains

citation

UNEP-WCMC (2020). Protected Area Profile for Australia from the World Database of Protected Areas, October 2020. Available at: www.protectedplanet.net