Protected areas

Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international organizations involved. Generally speaking though, protected areas are understood to be those in which human presence or at least the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood, non-timber forest products, water, ...) is limited.

The term "protected area" also includes marine protected areas, the boundaries of which will include some area of ocean, and transboundary protected areas that overlap multiple countries which remove the borders inside the area for conservation and economic purposes. There are over 161,000 protected areas in the world (as of October 2010) with more added daily, representing between 10 and 15 percent of the world's land surface area.

Protected areas are implemented for biodiversity conservation, often providing habitat and protection from hunting for threatened and endangered species. Protection helps maintain ecological processes that cannot survive in most intensely managed landscapes and seascapes.

Protected areas, such as national parks, nature reserves, and wildlife sanctuaries, can play a crucial role in limiting land degradation. Here are some examples:

• Preventing Deforestation: Protected areas can prevent deforestation by preserving forests and preventing logging activities. For example, the Amazon rainforest in Brazil is protected by a network of national parks and reserves, which helps to limit deforestation.

• Soil Conservation: Protected areas can also help to limit soil erosion and degradation by preserving the natural vegetation cover. In the United States, for instance, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park protects over 520,000 acres of forest, which helps to prevent soil erosion and degradation.

• Restoration of degraded land: Protected areas can also be used for restoration of degraded lands. For instance, the Loess Plateau in China was heavily degraded due to deforestation and agriculture, but the government declared a large portion of the area as a national park and has implemented measures such as terracing and reforestation to restore the degraded land.

• Management of overgrazing: Overgrazing by livestock can cause soil degradation and erosion. Protected areas can manage the number of animals grazing in an area and implement grazing rotations to prevent overgrazing. For example, the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya has implemented measures to regulate the number of cattle grazing in the reserve.