Editing Biodiversity (section)

==Protected areas==
{{Further|Protected areas}}
[[File:Orang Utan @ Sepilok.jpg|thumb|left|Mother and child at an orangutan rehab facility in Malaysia]]
Protected areas, including forest reserves and biosphere reserves, serve many functions including for affording protection to wild animals and their habitat.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.dolomitipark.it/doc_pdf/parchi.sola.terra/07.ProtectedAreas_Biodiversity.pdf|title=Protected Areas and Biodiversity: An Overview of Key Issues|last1=Mulongoy|first1=Kalemani Jo|last2=Chape|first2=Stuart|publisher=CBD Secretariat and UNEP-WCMC|year=2004|location=Montreal, Canada and Cambridge, UK|pages=15 and 25|access-date=23 October 2017|archive-date=22 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922234612/http://www.dolomitipark.it/doc_pdf/parchi.sola.terra/07.ProtectedAreas_Biodiversity.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Protected areas have been set up all over the world with the specific aim of protecting and conserving plants and animals. Some scientists have called on the global community to designate as protected areas of 30 percent of the planet by 2030, and 50 percent by 2050, in order to mitigate biodiversity loss from anthropogenic causes.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Baillie|first1=Jonathan|last2=Ya-Ping|first2=Zhang|date=14 September 2018 |title=Space for nature|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|volume=361 |issue=6407 |pages=1051 |doi=10.1126/science.aau1397|pmid=30213888|bibcode=2018Sci...361.1051B|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Allan |first1=James R. |last2=Possingham |first2=Hugh P. |last3=Atkinson |first3=Scott C. |last4=Waldron |first4=Anthony |last5=Di Marco |first5=Moreno |last6=Butchart |first6=Stuart H. M. |last7=Adams |first7=Vanessa M. |last8=Kissling |first8=W. Daniel |last9=Worsdell |first9=Thomas |last10=Sandbrook |first10=Chris |last11=Gibbon |first11=Gwili |last12=Kumar |first12=Kundan |last13=Mehta |first13=Piyush |last14=Maron |first14=Martine |last15=Williams |first15=Brooke A. |last16=Jones |first16=Kendall R. |last17=Wintle |first17=Brendan A. |last18=Reside |first18=April E. |last19=Watson |first19=James E. M. |title=The minimum land area requiring conservation attention to safeguard biodiversity |journal=Science |date=3 June 2022 |volume=376 |issue=6597 |pages=1094–1101 |doi=10.1126/science.abl9127 |pmid=35653463 |bibcode=2022Sci...376.1094A |hdl=11573/1640006 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The target of protecting 30% of the area of the planet by the year 2030 ([[30 by 30]]) was adopted by almost 200 countries in the [[2022 United Nations Biodiversity Conference]]. At the moment of adoption (December 2022) 17% of land territory and 10% of ocean territory were protected.<ref name="Paddison" /> In a study published 4 September 2020 in [[Science Advances]] researchers mapped out regions that can help meet critical conservation and climate goals.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lambert |first1=Jonathan |title=Protecting half of Earth may help solve climate change, save species |url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/protecting-half-planet-climate-change-save-species |work=ScienceNews |date=4 September 2020 }}</ref>

Protected areas safeguard nature and cultural resources and contribute to livelihoods, particularly at local level. There are over 238 563 designated protected areas worldwide, equivalent to 14.9 percent of the earth's land surface, varying in their extension, level of protection, and type of management (IUCN, 2018).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Protected areas|url=https://www.iucn.org/theme/protected-areas|website=International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)|date=20 August 2015}}</ref>

The benefits of protected areas extend beyond their immediate environment and time. In addition to conserving nature, protected areas are crucial for securing the long-term delivery of ecosystem services. They provide numerous benefits including the conservation of [[genetic resources]] for food and agriculture, the provision of medicine and health benefits, the provision of water, recreation and tourism, and for acting as a buffer against disaster. Increasingly, there is acknowledgement of the wider socioeconomic values of these natural ecosystems and of the ecosystem services they can provide.<ref>{{Cite web|title=FAO – Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) Toolbox|url=http://www.fao.org/sustainable-forest-management/toolbox/modules/forest-protected-areas/basic-knowledge/en/|access-date=8 December 2020|archive-date=30 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130120903/http://www.fao.org/sustainable-forest-management/toolbox/modules/forest-protected-areas/basic-knowledge/en/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===National parks and wildlife sanctuaries===
{{Main|National park|Wildlife sanctuaries}}A [[national park]] is a large natural or near natural area set aside to protect large-scale ecological processes, which also provide a foundation for environmentally and culturally compatible, spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational and visitor opportunities. These areas are selected by governments or private organizations to protect natural biodiversity along with its underlying ecological structure and supporting environmental processes, and to promote education and recreation. The [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] (IUCN), and its World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), has defined "National Park" as its Category II type of protected areas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/PAG-021.pdf|title=Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Categories}}</ref> 
[[Wildlife sanctuary|Wildlife sanctuaries]] are areas of either shelter for animals who are unable to live in the wild on their own, or they are temporary rehabilitation centers for wildlife to improve in their overall health and wellbeing.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wildlife Sanctuaries & Properties |url=https://www.massaudubon.org/places-to-explore/wildlife-sanctuaries |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=Mass Audubon |language=en-US}}</ref> 

Both of these serve as places in which biodiversity can be preserved rather than harmed. According to an article published in the [[National Park Service]] website, national parks aim their resources at maintaining animal and habitat integrity through conservation and preservation of their ecosystems. This along with educating the general public on wildlife functions, the aim for an increase in biodiversity is one of many goals trying to be focused on through national parks.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Biodiversity and national parks: What's relevance got to do with it? (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/biodiversitynp.htm |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref>

===Forest protected areas===
[[File:Percentage of forest in legally protected areas, 2020.svg|thumb|Percentage of forest in legally protected areas (as of 2020).<ref name="FAO & UNEP-2020" />]]Forest protected areas are a subset of all protected areas in which a significant portion of the area is forest.<ref name="FAO & UNEP-2020" /> This may be the whole or only a part of the protected area.<ref name="FAO & UNEP-2020" /> Globally, 18 percent of the world's forest area, or more than 700 million hectares, fall within legally established protected areas such as national parks, conservation areas and game reserves.<ref name="FAO & UNEP-2020" /> 

There is an estimated 726 million ha of forest in protected areas worldwide. Of the six major world regions, South America has the highest share of forests in protected areas, 31 percent.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 – Key findings|publisher=FAO|year=2020|isbn=978-92-5-132581-0|doi=10.4060/ca8753en|s2cid=130116768}}{{pn|date=November 2024}} Text was added from this source which has a Wikipedia-specific [[c:File:Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 – Key findings.pdf|licence statement]]</ref> The [[forest]]s play a vital role in harboring more than 45,000 floral and 81,000 faunal species of which 5150 floral and 1837 faunal species are [[Endemism|endemic]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sahayaraj|first=K.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GmwlBAAAQBAJ&q=5150+floral+and+1837+faunal+species+are+endemic+to+forests&pg=PA157|title=Basic and Applied Aspects of Biopesticides|date=2014-07-10|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-81-322-1877-7|language=en}}</ref> In addition, there are 60,065 different tree species in the world.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Beech |first1=E. |last2=Rivers |first2=M. |last3=Oldfield |first3=S. |last4=Smith |first4=P. P. |title=GlobalTreeSearch: The first complete global database of tree species and country distributions |journal=Journal of Sustainable Forestry |date=4 July 2017 |volume=36 |issue=5 |pages=454–489 |doi=10.1080/10549811.2017.1310049 |bibcode=2017JSusF..36..454B }}</ref> Plant and animal species confined to a specific geographical area are called endemic species.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Endemic species and their value to biodiversity |url=https://www.iberdrola.com/sustainability/endemic-species#:~:text=In%20consequence%2C%20endemic%20species%20are,living%20beings%20influence%20this%20condition.}}</ref> 

In [[forest reserves]], rights to activities like hunting and grazing are sometimes given to communities living on the fringes of the forest, who sustain their livelihood partially or wholly from forest resources or products. 

Approximately 50 million hectares (or 24%) of European forest land is protected for biodiversity and landscape protection. Forests allocated for soil, water, and other ecosystem services encompass around 72 million hectares (32% of European forest area).<ref>{{Cite book |last=European Investment Bank |url=https://www.eib.org/en/publications/20220173-forests-at-the-heart-of-sustainable-development |title=Forests at the heart of sustainable development: Investing in forests to meet biodiversity and climate goals |date=2022-12-08 |publisher=European Investment Bank |isbn=978-92-861-5403-4 |language=EN}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Forests - Environment - European Commission |url=https://ec.europa.eu/environment/forests/policy_en.htm |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=ec.europa.eu}}</ref>