Africa
Number of Countries
58
Number of Protected areas
8,497
997 with management effectiveness evaluations
Polygons/Points ratio
4% Polygons
0% Points
Number of sources
For International designations | 30 |
For National designations | 146 |
For Regional designations | 2 |
TOTAL | 178 |
Protected areas coverage (Ref 1 ↓ )

Area terrestrial
17.16% coverage
4,363,675 km2 Land Area Protected
29,410,435 km2 Total Land Area

Area marine
4.81% coverage
1,556,528 km2 Marine Area Protected
14,150,704 km2 Total Marine Area
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.
IUCN Management categories
Management categories | Count | % |
---|---|---|
Ia | 39 | 0.0 |
Ib | 25 | 0.0 |
II | 346 | 4.0 |
III | 39 | 0.0 |
IV | 337 | 3.0 |
V | 60 | 0.0 |
VI | 219 | 2.0 |
Not Reported | 7217 | 84.0 |
Not Assigned | 77 | 0.0 |
Not Applicable | 138 | 1.0 |
Governance types
Name | Governance type | Count | % |
---|---|---|---|
Federal or national ministry or agency | 3179 | 37.0 | |
Not Reported | 2831 | 33.0 | |
Local communities | 212 | 2.0 | |
Individual landowners | 930 | 10.0 | |
Collaborative governance | 253 | 2.0 | |
Government-delegated management | 42 | 0.0 | |
Joint governance | 4 | 0.0 | |
Non-profit organisations | 28 | 0.0 | |
Indigenous peoples | 27 | 0.0 | |
For-profit organisations | 1 | 0.0 | |
Sub-national ministry or agency | 989 | 11.0 | |
Transboundary governance | 1 | 0.0 |
Countries & territories
Countries & territories
National designations
153
Regional designations
1
Categories | Count |
---|---|
Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance (Barcelona Convention) | 6 |
International designations
3
Categories | Count |
---|---|
UNESCO-MAB Biosphere Reserve | 82 |
World Heritage Site (natural or mixed) | 56 |
Ramsar Site, Wetland of International Importance | 396 |