First published on 06/11/2014, and last updated on 03/11/2018
Heather Bingham, UNEP-WCMC (Partner)
The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is a database managed by UNEP-WCMC to capture information on protected areas from all over the world. The database is made up of sites which have been officially recognised at the national or international level, and it is used to assess progress towards global conservation targets which stress the importance of a well-connected and representative system of protected areas. While there is mounting evidence that this system of protected areas is often neither well-connected nor representative, evidence is also increasing to suggest that ICCAs have the potential to rectify that by bridging gaps between protected areas and conserving biodiversity that is otherwise neglected. Despite this, currently less than 1% of protected areas in the WDPA are under the governance of indigenous peoples or local communities.
Over recent years, initiatives such as the ICCA Registry and CBD Technical Series 64 have sought to document the valuable contribution that ICCAs make to biodiversity conservation, yet we still lack a strong understanding of their number, extent and distribution. Enabled by funding from UNDP and the Government of Norway, UNEP-WCMC is building on this work by developing a set of protocols to allow the WDPA to capture far more information on ICCAs, along with other poorly documented sites like private protected areas. While this is currently still an exciting work in progress, we expect to launch the improved system in November at the World Parks Congress, and will be writing soon to request data and information from Consortium members. The data requested will include spatial data in addition to descriptive data, including information such as the site’s name, area, age, and governance type. In acknowledgement of the sensitivities that may accompany information relating to ICCAs, data providers will have the option for all or some of their data to be kept private.
