South Africa, Africa

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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

1,580

205 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

8.34% coverage

102,060 km2 Land Area Protected

1,224,385 km2 Total Land Area

5.18% with management effectiveness evaluation

63,462.08719 km2 Area Assessed

Area marine

14.56% coverage

224,640 km2 Marine Area Protected

1,542,560 km2 Total Marine Area

0.21% with management effectiveness evaluation

3,231.525696 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 Reported 1567 99.18
Not Applicable 13 0.82

Governance types

Name Governance type Count %
Federal or national ministry or agency 645 40.82
Not Reported 2 0.13
Joint governance 1 0.06
Non-profit organisations 8 0.51
Individual landowners 924 58.48

National designations

8

Categories Count
Nature Reserve 1371
National Park 21
Special Nature Reserve 2
Mountain Catchment Area 16
Forest Nature Reserve 53
Marine Protected Area 39
Protected Environment 30
Forest Wilderness Area 12

Regional designations

0

Categories Count

International designations

3

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