> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://lemu-web.prie.to/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# WDPA
- URL: https://lemu-web.prie.to/docs/alphabet/wdpa/
- Published: 2025-08-31T22:12:55.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-12T16:12:40.000Z
- Description: The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is the most comprehensive global dataset of terrestrial and marine protected areas, maintained by UNEP-WCMC and IUCN. It underpins global biodiversity targets, conservation planning, and reporting.
- Author: Lemu
- Tags: Alphabet, #docs-col, #group-w

## World Database on Protected Areas

The WDPA is the authoritative global inventory of protected areas, combining data from national governments, NGOs, and research institutions. It includes information on over 260,000 terrestrial and marine protected areas, their legal designation, management categories, and spatial boundaries. The WDPA is used by policymakers, scientists, and businesses to assess conservation coverage, track progress towards international targets like “30x30,” and integrate protected area data into planning and risk assessment.

| **Type**         | **Global biodiversity database** |
| ---------------- | -------------------------------- |
| **Jurisdiction** | Global                           |

### Established / Active Since

1981 (as part of [UNEP](https://lemu-web.prie.to/docs/alphabet/unep/)\-WCMC’s protected area data work); consolidated as WDPA in 1985

### Maintained By / Organised By

[UNEP](https://lemu-web.prie.to/docs/alphabet/unep/)\-WCMC (UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre) and [IUCN](https://lemu-web.prie.to/docs/alphabet/iucn/)

### Official Resources

- [http://www.protectedplanet.net](http://www.protectedplanet.net/?ref=lemu-web.prie.to)
- [http://www.unep-wcmc.org](http://www.unep-wcmc.org/?ref=lemu-web.prie.to)

### Relationship to Lemu

Lemu integrates WDPA data in its [**Atlas**](https://lemu-web.prie.to/tag/atlas/) platform to contextualise biodiversity indicators and ecosystem services. Protected areas from the WDPA are cross-referenced with indicators such as [**Species Richness**](https://lemu-web.prie.to/docs/indicators/species-richness/), [**Biorarity**](https://lemu-web.prie.to/docs/indicators/rarity-weighted-species-richness/), and [**LemuRank**](https://lemu-web.prie.to/docs/indicators/lemurank/), ensuring clients understand how their operations or portfolios intersect with conservation priorities.

### Examples in Practice

💡

****Governments** reporting to the Convention on Biological Diversity ([CBD](https://lemu-web.prie.to/docs/alphabet/cbd/)) use WDPA data to demonstrate progress towards the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework ([GBF](https://lemu-web.prie.to/docs/alphabet/gbf/)).

💡

A ****renewable energy company** consults WDPA maps to avoid siting projects in or near protected areas.

💡

****Researchers** model species extinction risk by overlaying WDPA boundaries with species distribution and land-use change data.