Course:Cons452/WDPA

World Database of Protected Areas (WDPA)

Description

The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is the most comprehensive global database on terrestrial and marine protected areas. It is updated on a monthly basis, and formed in collaboration with wide array of governmental and non-governmental organizations which submit protected area data. The dataset contains protected areas designated at the national level and under regional and international conventions and agreements.

Along with the spatial layout of protected areas, the attribute table contains data on the name (both common and original name) of the protected area, the designation it has (e.g. world heritage site), ownership (e.g., communal, not for profit), and more. The online interface (launched in 2010) allows you to download the datasets for free, as well as provides an interactive map where you can view the data on the website itself.

WDPA uses the IUCN and Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) definitions of protected areas to determine whether a site should be labeled as “protected area” in the WDPA. The IUCN definition is as follows:

“A protected area is a clearly defined geographical space, recognized, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values.”

There are 6 different IUCN Protected Area Management Categories, and they can be viewed here. These different protected areas are classified according to these (and other, if they fall outside the IUCN categories) categories.

When you download the WDPA dataset, there will be two feature classes: point and polygon. Sometimes getting the polygon (boundary) data of a protected area is not possible, and then it will be point data. The point file is usually but not always the centroid (centre-point) of each protected area. Reasons for not having boundary file polygons for all protected areas include lack of capacity to map it or confidentiality issues protecting the public dissemination of data. Sometimes these point data represent small discrete protected areas (e.g. protected trees, nesting sites, rocks, caves, a spring, etc.). However, they are trying to replace point data wherever they can with boundary data. Currently, point data make up 9% of all the data records. Please see "Common Problems" about risks associated with analysis of the WDPA point data.

Metadata

Metadata Component	Description
Theme	Protected Areas
Source	UNEP and IUCN
Purpose	The WDPA is used to inform decision-making and enhance action in protected areas across the world. It is also used to generate indicators to track progress towards the Convention on Biological Diversity Aichi Targets & the UN Millennium Development Goals.
Time Frame	Shows current data. (The WDPA was established in 1981, but attribute data contains the year that the protected areas were enacted)
File Type	Spatial
File Format	.csv, .shp, geodatabase, and ESRI web service
Structure	Vector
Projection and coordinate system	Geographic coordinate system - WGS 1984 ; Mollweide projection was used to calculate GIS area fields in the attribute data
Extent	Global (marine and terrestrial)
Resolution or scale	N/A

Common Problems

• Statistics calculated from the WDPA may differ from national statistics, which may affect your analysis. There are several reasons that this is the case (explained in full in the WDPA Manual, which comes with each download) including a difference in the methods used for digitizing a protected area, or difference in the methodologies for calculating coverage of a protected area.
• The Mollweide projection is the default projection used to calculate the GIS areas (marine and terrestrial) in the attribute table. In carrying out analysis of the WDPA with other datasets, you will need to decide which map projection to use, and thus may want to re-project the WDPA layer. Your decision will depend on the nature of the analysis you are undertaking and partly on what other datasets you would like to use alongside the WDPA.
• The spatial information on protected areas is created and submitted by data providers. How data providers have digitized the boundaries of a protected area, at what scale, and which references they have used to map areas, will greatly influence the accuracy of the data. Spatial accuracy therefore will not be perfect (and more importantly, may not match protected area boundaries from other sources), so you should keep this in mind when doing analysis for your project.
• There are overlapping protected area designations (i.e. polygons). Keep this in mind if ever summing the areas, as you don't want to double count accidentally.
• Using the point data to conduct protected area spatial analysis may be challenging. The key challenge is that while there may be an associated area attached to the point there is no way of knowing what the shape of that area is and therefore any analytical decision will necessarily bring uncertainties: you will need to think about how to address these uncertainties in your analysis.

Downloading Instructions

1. Go to https://www.protectedplanet.net/.
2. In the bar on the top left corner of the interactive map there is a button that says "WDPA Dataset" with a download icon. Click that.
3. You will see a dropdown menu where you can decide which file format you would like to download it in (.csv, .shp, geodatabase...) Select your desired format. A shapefile (.shp) is probably the one that is best to begin with if you are unsure.
4. A new pop-up will appear telling you that your dataset is ready for download. Press the "Download" button and your dataset will download as a .zip file folder.
5. The zip folder (named WDPA_MonthYear-filetype), will contain the file you requested, as well as resource folders in English, French, and Spanish. In each resources folder there will be a summary of the attribute table and a WDPA Manual (a history of the WDPA, data standards, how it was created, notes on using the data, and more...)

Restrictions on Use

See https://www.protectedplanet.net/c/terms-and-conditions for full terms and conditions. The WDPA dataset is not permitted for commercial use. You cannot sub-license or redistribute the WDPA Data. You may publish the WDPA Materials in whole or in part, including on-line, providing that the WDPA Data are not downloadable and that the proper attribution is clearly visible. You must ensure that the most recently available version of the WDPA Materials is being used and that the month and year of release is visible in the published version.