National parks and protected areas

Long ago, people wanted to keep a wild place safe forever.

In 1872, the United States made Yellowstone a national park. It has colorful hot springs. Everyone can visit it.

On March 1, 1872, the United States Congress made Yellowstone the first national park. Explorers, painters and photographers had shown people its wonders, such as its hot springs. The law set the land aside "for the benefit and enjoyment of the people," so no one could buy it or settle on it.

The idea grew. In 1916 the United States created the National Park Service to look after its parks. Today it manages 434 parks and other sites covering more than 85 million acres, in all 50 states.

The US National Park Service explains that photographs by William Henry Jackson, paintings by Thomas Moran and reports from expeditions helped persuade Congress, which on March 1, 1872, reserved the headwaters of the Yellowstone River "from settlement, occupancy, or sale" as "a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people." The NPS notes two earlier steps: Hot Springs, Arkansas, reserved in 1832 for its hot water, and Yosemite, granted to California as a state park in 1864.

On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Organic Act creating the National Park Service. The system has grown to 434 units covering more than 85 million acres in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and US territories.

There are protected places all over the world.

In the Serengeti, big herds of animals walk across grassy plains. The Great Barrier Reef protects colorful corals. The Galápagos Islands protect giant tortoises.

Protected areas look after very different kinds of nature. Serengeti National Park in Tanzania protects 1.5 million hectares of savanna, where huge herds of wildebeest, gazelles and zebras migrate each year, followed by the animals that hunt them.

In the sea, the Great Barrier Reef off Australia contains the world's largest collection of coral reefs, with about 2,500 separate reefs. The Galápagos Islands, about 1,000 kilometers off South America, protect 19 islands and the sea around them, home to land iguanas, giant tortoises and many kinds of finch.

UNESCO's descriptions show the range of what protected areas conserve. Serengeti National Park comprises 1.5 million hectares of savanna, where the annual migration of vast herds of wildebeest, gazelles and zebras to permanent water holes, followed by their predators, is one of the most impressive natural events in the world.

The Great Barrier Reef, inscribed in 1981 and covering 348,000 km², holds some 2,500 individual reefs and over 900 islands; Raine Island is the world's largest green turtle breeding area. The Galápagos Islands, 19 islands with a surrounding marine reserve about 1,000 km from South America, sit where three ocean currents meet, and their isolation produced unusual animals such as the land iguana, the giant tortoise and many types of finch.

A park needs good care to keep nature safe.

It should be connected to other wild places, so animals can travel. And the people who live nearby should help decide how it is looked after.

Drawing a line on a map is not enough to protect nature. The world's 30 by 30 plan says protected areas should be well looked after, with clear goals for the plants and animals in them, and checked to see whether they are working.

They should also be connected, for example by strips of wild land called corridors, so animals can move between them. And they should be run fairly: the people who live in or near them, including Indigenous peoples on their traditional lands, should take part in decisions and share the benefits.

The CBD's guidance for Target 3 sets out what effective protection means: management with the primary objective of positive outcomes for biodiversity, appropriate goals, governance, resources and consistent monitoring; ecologically representative systems that include samples of the full range of ecosystems; and connectivity through corridors and integration into wider landscapes and seascapes, so that networks can withstand stresses, including the impacts of climate change.

Equitable governance is part of the target: relevant actors must be able to participate fully in establishing and managing protected areas, costs and benefits should be shared fairly, and the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities, including over their traditional territories, must be recognized and respected.