About

Protected Planet is the home of the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA): the most complete source of information on protected areas around the world. The ICCA Registry and Protected Planet are linked, and ICCAs can be listed in both.

Data providers need to have secured the free, prior and informed consent of the relevant communities, and datasets are peer-reviewed by the ICCA Consortium, and other respected entities in the local and indigenous peoples' community, prior to being included. This peer-review process also applies to data submitted to the ICCA Registry.

There are many benefits to communities that are shared by the ICCA Registry and Protected Planet. For more information, see benefits and considerations.

Inclusion in Protected Planet also provides some specific advantages to communities, and to the conservation community at large.

• Highlights the contributions of ICCAs, alongside formal networks of protected areas, in achieving conservation through coverage, connectivity and ecosystem representation.
• Highlights the scale of ICCA initiatives and the vast contributions they make to global conservation.
• Informs assessments of the extent to which ICCAs contribute to meeting international conservation targets.
• Contributes to knowledge on which species and ecosystems are currently conserved and which are not, helping to inform the placement of new conservation initiatives.

The WDPA is used by academics, protected areas professionals, policy-makers and others around the world. It highlights the contributions to conservation of ICCAs alongside, and equally to, other types of protected and conserved areas.