January 2017 update of the WDPA

The total number of protected area records in the January 2017 release of the WDPA is 232,174 comprising of 213,452 polygons and 18,722 points.

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Highlights:

Afghanistan: Complete update of national-level protected areas, resulting in the removal of one protected area record. The national government is working towards formally designating a number of the protected areas currently included as 'Proposed' under the 'Status' field.

Georgia: Complete update of protected areas designated under international conventions and agreements and national-level protected areas, including the addition of one national-level protected area record and updated boundaries for all polygon features.

Tunisia: Complete update of protected areas, including the addition of 12 national-level protected area records and the conversion of 71 point features to polygons, many of which are Ramsar sites (Wetlands of International Importance).

United States of America: Addition of one new site was created off the Atlantic coast - the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument with an area over 12,700 km².

Added:New feature added in the WDPA (ie. a new WDPAID was created)

Removed : Number of feature removed from the WDPA (ie. a WDPAID was removed from the database)

Updated : Modifications/updates of the geometry or some attributes of existing feature in the WDPA (ie. a feature with an existing WDPAID.

WDPA Manual

WDPA User Manual:We are pleased to announce that the WDPA User Manual has been translated into French and Spanish. Additionally, the Manual has been updated with an appendix on WDPA Data Contributor Agreements (Appendix 2), and has undergone general updates and edits based on user feedback. Version 1.3 of the User Manual is now available in three languages through the geodatabase download above and via the following links:

English: http://wcmc.io/WDPA_Manual

French: http://wcmc.io/WDPA_Manual_FR

Summary of current data in preparation:

The data set status is defined as either:
1) New data set received, 2) Under review by UNEP-WCMC, 3) Under validation by data provider or 4) Final approval stages.

The use of the monthly release data is bound by the Terms and Conditions of Use of the WDPA.