Marine protected areas in South Africa
South Africa: Marine protected areas was 15.4% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Marine protected areas in South Africa, 2013–2025
Source: Protected Planet: The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) and World Database on Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (WD-OECM), UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring. Measured in % of territorial waters.
Analysis
South Africa recorded 15.4% for marine protected areas in 2025.
That represents a change of up 27.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, marine protected areas in South Africa peaked at 15.5% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 12.1%, in 2013.
South Africa ranks 39th of 174 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 13 years of available data.
Marine protected areas in South Africa, year by year
| Year | % of territorial waters | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 12.1% | — |
| 2014 | 12.1% | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 12.1% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 12.1% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 12.1% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 12.1% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 14.6% | +20.7% |
| 2020 | 15.5% | +6.2% |
| 2021 | 15.5% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 15.5% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 15.5% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 15.4% | -0.6% |
| 2025 | 15.4% | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 12.5% | 12.1% | 14.6% | 7 |
| 2020s | 15.5% | 15.4% | 15.5% | 6 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More climate change data for South Africa
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 34,365 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 11,741 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 22,624 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 44.31 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 807.99 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 5,495 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 5,119 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 376.6 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 19.32 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 13.45 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is marine protected areas in South Africa?
- Marine protected areas in South Africa was 15.4% in 2025, according to Protected Planet: The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) and World Database on Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (WD-OECM), UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring.
- What is the highest marine protected areas recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 15.5% in 2020.
- What is the lowest marine protected areas recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 12.1% in 2013.
- How does South Africa rank for marine protected areas?
- South Africa ranks 39th out of 174 countries with data for 2025.
- Is marine protected areas rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 27.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Protected Planet: The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) and World Database on Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (WD-OECM), UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring, published as part of Marine protected areas (% of territorial waters). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 13 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Marine protected areas are areas of intertidal or subtidal terrain--and overlying water and associated flora and fauna and historical and cultural features--that have been reserved by law or other effective means to protect part or all of the enclosed environment.