South Africa, Africa

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.CSV.SHP
The designations employed and the presentation of material on this map do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Number of Protected areas

1,600

206 with management effectiveness evaluations

Polygons/Points ratio

100% Polygons

0% Points

Number of sources

For International designations 3
For National designations 1
TOTAL 4

Protected areas coverage (Ref 1 ↓ )

Area terrestrial

8.44% coverage

103,324 km2 Land Area Protected

1,224,385 km2 Total Land Area

13% 6th National Report Coverage

5.19% with management effectiveness evaluation

63,548.24111 km2 Area Assessed

Area marine

14.56% coverage

224,640 km2 Marine Area Protected

1,542,560 km2 Total Marine Area

10% 6th National Report Coverage

0.21% with management effectiveness evaluation

3,232.346533 km2 Area Assessed

Warning: 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. Download the country's latest national report (pdf)

Learn how we calculate protected area coverage statistics

IUCN Management categories

Management categories Count %
Not Applicable 13 0.81
Not Assigned 1587 99.19

Governance types

Name Governance type Count %
Individual landowners 921 57.56
Non-profit organisations 8 0.5
Federal or national ministry or agency 668 41.75
Not Reported 2 0.13
Joint governance 1 0.06

National designations

8

Categories Count
Nature Reserve 1383
National Park 21
Special Nature Reserve 2
Mountain Catchment Area 16
Forest Nature Reserve 53
Marine Protected Area 39
Protected Environment 38
Forest Wilderness Area 12

Regional designations

0

Categories Count

International designations

3

Categories Count
Ramsar Site, Wetland of International Importance 23
UNESCO-MAB Biosphere Reserve 9
World Heritage Site (natural or mixed) 4