Vital GEO Graphics

D ownload G raphic 2

Degree of protection of terrestrial ecoregions and large marine ecosystems (per cent)

Marine

Terrestrial 0–5 5–10

Less than 0.1 0.1–0.5 0.5–1 1–2 2–10 10–20 More than 20

10–15 15–20 20–30 30–50 More than 50

Note: All IUCN protected area management categories combined.

Source: UNEP-WCMC 2006a

Ecosystem protection measures have been under- taken in many regions but current environmental degradation trends must be reversed in order to sustain the health and productivity of the world’s ecosystems. Responses are varied, and include further des- ignation of land and areas of water within protected areas, and increasingly, the improved management for biodiversity in production land- scapes and seascapes. During the past 20 years, the number of protected areas grew by over 22 000 and currently stands at more than 115 000. Roughly 12 per cent of the world’s land surface is included within some kind of protected area, but less than one per cent of the world’s marine ecosystems are protected.

Threats to ecosystems and the consequent loss of biodiversity continue because values of such resources are not properly recognized by political and market systems. Society can only develop without further loss of biodiversity if shortcom- ings in market mechanisms and policy framing and implementation are corrected, including undervaluation of biological resources, failure to include environmental costs in pricing structures and failure to recognize global values at the local level. The economic value of ecosystem goods- and-services needs to be fully recognized, and countries need to strengthen their national policies to fully incorporate these values. Economic growth and environmental protection are not mutually exclusive; efforts towards poverty alleviation and environmental protection can be mutually reinforcing. Reducing extreme poverty and hunger, the first Millennium Development Goal, requires work, which refers, among others, to the sustainable management of land, water and biodiversity resources. The economic valuation of ecosystem services in relation to water resources is seen as a key driver of developmental policy. Several large-scale water related restoration projects have been un- dertaken in different regions, such as reforesting the Panama Canal Watershed and restoration of Mesopotamian marshes in Iraq.

D ownload G raphic 2

Total area under protected status

14 Protected area ratio to total territorial area (per cent)

12

10

8

6

4

Source: GEO Data Portal,

complied from UNEP-WCMC 2006

2002

1990

1998

1978

1986

1994

2006

1974

1982

1970

38 V I TAL GEO GRAPH I CS