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Earth's most special places
Priority places by type:
- WWF's Strategic Plan for Conservation 1.12 MB pdf
2020 Priority Places Goal
By 2020, biodiversity is protected and well managed in the world’s most outstanding natural places.
Why these places?
These regions have been scientifically identified as:
- being home to irreplaceable and threatened biodiversity, or
- representing an opportunity to conserve the largest and most intact representative of their ecosystem.
We are also working in a number of regional priority areas that are locally important and have a long history of WWF conservation success.
Take a look at WWF's on the ground conservation projects: information delivered direct from the field.
Aren't there lots of parks already?
Protected areas (like national parks, sanctuaries, and reserves) cover around 12% of the Earth's surface.
Why then are the world's natural places still under threat?
One reason is that many protected areas are not well managed. Another is that many vital habitats are often not included, like mangroves, swamps, and grasslands. There are also long-term, global threats, like climate change and over-extraction of water from rivers.
And there's not always enough support from governments, business and industry, development agencies, and sometimes local communities to ensure the long-term success of protected areas.
So while it's true that a tremendous amount has been done, there's still a lot more to do to ensure enough of our planet's ecosystems and habitats are properly conserved.
Why then are the world's natural places still under threat?
One reason is that many protected areas are not well managed. Another is that many vital habitats are often not included, like mangroves, swamps, and grasslands. There are also long-term, global threats, like climate change and over-extraction of water from rivers.
And there's not always enough support from governments, business and industry, development agencies, and sometimes local communities to ensure the long-term success of protected areas.
So while it's true that a tremendous amount has been done, there's still a lot more to do to ensure enough of our planet's ecosystems and habitats are properly conserved.
