Terrestrial protected areas in Australia
Australia: Terrestrial protected areas was 22.0% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Terrestrial protected areas in Australia, 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 total land area.
Analysis
Australia recorded 22.0% for terrestrial protected areas in 2025. That is the highest value across all 13 years on record.
That represents a change of up 49.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, terrestrial protected areas in Australia peaked at 22.0% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 12.9%, in 2013.
That places Australia 77th out of 213 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 13 years of available data.
Terrestrial protected areas in Australia, year by year
| Year | % of total land area | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 12.9% | — |
| 2014 | 14.6% | +13.2% |
| 2015 | 14.7% | +0.7% |
| 2016 | 17.0% | +15.6% |
| 2017 | 19.3% | +13.5% |
| 2018 | 19.3% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 19.4% | +0.5% |
| 2020 | 20.3% | +4.6% |
| 2021 | 20.4% | +0.5% |
| 2022 | 20.4% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 20.4% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 22.0% | +7.8% |
| 2025 | 22.0% | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 16.7% | 12.9% | 19.4% | 7 |
| 2020s | 20.9% | 20.3% | 22.0% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More climate change data for Australia
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 118,578 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 34,162 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 84,416 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 128.91 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 3,015 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 12,473 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 10,966 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 1,507 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 41.38 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 53.82 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is terrestrial protected areas in Australia?
- Terrestrial protected areas in Australia was 22.0% 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 terrestrial protected areas recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 22.0% in 2024.
- What is the lowest terrestrial protected areas recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 12.9% in 2013.
- How does Australia rank for terrestrial protected areas?
- Australia ranks 77th out of 213 countries with data for 2025.
- Is terrestrial protected areas rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 49.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Australia 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 Terrestrial protected areas (% of total land area). 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
Terrestrial protected areas are totally or partially protected areas of at least 1,000 hectares that are designated by national authorities as scientific reserves with limited public access, national parks, natural monuments, nature reserves or wildlife sanctuaries, protected landscapes, and areas managed mainly for sustainable use. Marine areas, unclassified areas, littoral (intertidal) areas, and sites protected under local or provincial law are excluded.