Protected Areas

A protected area is a place that has been set aside for nature. The idea is to preserve the biodiversity of the area. There are more than 102,000 protected areas on the earth. That is enough area to fill both Canada and Brazil combined!

More than 120 countries have created national parks. Lots of these parks are famous around the world and attract very many people. Costa Rica’s parks are very popular because of their many species of birds. These Costa Rican parks have about 850 more species of birds than the U.S. and Canada combined.

Galapagos National Park in Ecuador protects the area that inspired Charles Darwin. His studies there helped him develop his theory of evolution.

Africa’s most famous waterfall is protected by Victoria Falls National Park of Zimbabwe and Mosi oa Tunya of Zambia. Victoria Falls drops 355 feet (108 meters).

The giant panda finds refuge in the Wolong Natural Reserve in China.

More than 70 percent of the earth is marine water. In 1879, The Royal National Park in Australia became the first marine protected area. Today, The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park near Australia and the Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve make up 41 percent of all the marine protected areas. 

There are more than 4000 marine protected areas around the world. Those parks cover about 1,640,000 square km of the ocean surface. However, marine waters are the least protected areas on earth. More than 60 percent of earth’s ocean area is considered international waters and are not protected by any country.

Even though there are many protected areas, some of the largest protected areas include deserts and the arctic region. These are low-diversity areas.

Many of the high diversity areas are not always well protected. Even if a government pays people to protect its national parks, often there’s not enough money to do it well.

History of Protected Areas

Setting aside habitat is not a new idea. People have set aside land for thousands of years. For example, two thousand years ago people in the northwest part of India set aside land that was used for special hunting. Other land was set aside because people believed it was a sacred area for their gods or they used it as a cemetery.

Yellowstone National Park in the U.S. is considered the first modern protected habitat. It was established in 1872. Later, other countries did the same thing: Banff in Canada, El Chico in Mexico, and the Swiss National Park.

Timeline of protected areas:

Since the world’s first protected areas were established, the idea of what a protected area should be has grown. At first, protected areas were isolated places, owned by the government and managed by scientists. Now, people who live in those areas are involved, and their way of life is protected, too.  For example, in central India, there is a forest with threatened wildlife. The Indian government owns the forest, but the people of Mendha-Lekha village live there and protect the wildlife.

Benefits of Protected Areas

There are many benefits of protected areas:

Sometimes the value of protected areas can be measured in dollars and cents. For example, the water that Jakarta uses from its protected national parks is worth 1.5 billion dollars. Tourism can bring a lot of money into a community. Tourism in the protected areas of the U.S. and Canada generate billions of dollars every year.

However, it’s hard to put a price tag on the cultural and spiritual values people give to nature and their environment. These things can never be replaced if lost.