protected.land

World · 2025

Protected land, by country

Protected land is ground set aside by law for nature: national parks, reserves, wilderness areas and managed landscapes. About a sixth of the world’s land now has that status. Governments have agreed to reach 30% by 2030.

16.5%of the world’s land is protected · 2025
21.4 M km²protected land worldwide · share × land area, 2025
37 of 213economies already protect 30% or more · 2025
Protected land, world% of land area, 2013–2025

The protected share of the world’s land rose from 15.0% in 2013 to 16.5% in 2025 — about 0.13 percentage points a year. Reaching 30% by 2030 would need roughly 2.7 points a year from here.

The same series as a table
Year% of land area
201314.95
201415.21
201515.00
201614.90
201715.13
201814.97
201915.11
202015.38
202115.79
202215.87
202316.08
202416.44
202516.51

Where it is

Largest share protected% of land area, 2025

  1. Seychelles68.1%
  2. New Caledonia59.6%
  3. Venezuela, RB56.8%
  4. Bhutan51.6%
  5. Liechtenstein44.8%
  6. Bulgaria44.3%
  7. Turks and Caicos Islands43.5%
  8. Guinea42.6%
  9. Hong Kong SAR, China42.0%
  10. Greenland41.9%

Largest protected areathousand km², 2025

  1. Brazil2558
  2. Russian Federation1883
  3. Australia1691
  4. China1465
  5. United States1180
  6. Canada1134
  7. Venezuela, RB501
  8. Saudi Arabia398
  9. Tanzania353
  10. Congo, Dem. Rep.338

Very high shares are most common in small territories and in countries where a single large reserve covers much of the land. See every economy →

What counts as protected

The figures count terrestrial and inland-water areas recorded in the World Database on Protected Areas, which UNEP-WCMC compiles from national governments. Marine areas are a separate series and are not included here. Square kilometres are worked out from each country’s protected share and its land area. Definitions and neighbouring terms →

Latest observation 2025. World Bank dataset last updated 2026-10-08; retrieved 2026-10-29.