Protected area management categories

This is a summary of the publication Putting nature on the map, which aims to use Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Categories (Dudley, 2008) to identify all the places in the UK that meet the IUCN definition of a protected area, and to assign to them one of the six IUCN protected area management categories and four protected area governance types.

The aim of this publication has been to use Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Categories (Dudley, 2008) to identify all the places in the UK that meet the IUCN definition of a protected area, and to assign to them one of the six IUCN protected area management categories and four protected area governance types. This report also identifies ten detailed recommendations for applying the Putting Nature on the Map (PNOTM) approach.

IUCN’s Protected Areas Management Categories, which classify protected areas according to their management objectives, are today accepted as the benchmark for defining, recording and classifying protected areas.They are recognized by international bodies such as the United Nations as well as many national governments. As a result, they are increasingly being incorporated into government legislation.

The IUCN protected area management categories is a core document for the development, reporting and understanding of protected areas worldwide. In this reprint of the 2008 categories new text on Recognising Protected Areas and Assigning Management Categories and Governance Types, drawing on global best practice and extensive consultation, provides guidance on implementing the categories.

A background document for the CBD expert workshop. This document reviews the description of each of the scientific criteria and comments on their potential applications, discusses a variety of ways in which the scientific community understands these criteria, and how they can be used as a foundation for informing future decisions regarding the marine environment of the open oceans and deep seas.