IUCN protected area

categories

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IUCN protected area categories, or IUCN

protected area management categories,
are categories used to classify protected
areas in a system developed by the
International Union for the Conservation of
Nature (IUCN).[1][2]

The enlisting of such areas is part of a

strategy being used toward the
conservation of the world's natural
environment and biodiversity. The IUCN
has developed the protected area
management categories system to define,
record, and classify the wide variety of
specific aims and concerns when
categorising protected areas and their
objectives.
This categorisation method is recognised
on a global scale by national governments
and international bodies such as the
United Nations and the Convention on
Biological Diversity.[3]

Categories
Category Ia – Strict Nature
Reserve

A strict nature reserve (IUCN Category Ia)

is an area which is protected from all but
light human use in order to preserve the
geological and geomorphical features of
the region and its biodiversity. These areas
are often home to dense native
ecosystems that are restricted from all
human disturbance outside of scientific
study, environmental monitoring and
education. Because these areas are so
strictly protected, they provide ideal
pristine environments by which external
human influence can be measured.

In some cases strict nature reserves are of

spiritual significance for surrounding
communities, and the areas are also
protected for this reason. The people
engaged in the practice of their faith within
the region have the right to continue to do
so, providing it aligns with the area's
conservation and management objectives.
Human impacts on strict nature reserves
are increasingly difficult to guard against
as climate and air pollution and newly
emerging diseases threaten to penetrate
the boundaries of protected areas. If
perpetual intervention is required to
maintain these strict guidelines, the area
will often fall into category IV or V.[4]

Category Ib – Wilderness Area

The Serengeti National Park, Tanzania is a designated

Wilderness Area[5]
A wilderness area (IUCN Category Ib) is
similar to a strict nature reserve, but
generally larger and protected in a slightly
less stringent manner.

These areas are a protected domain in

which biodiversity and ecosystem
processes (including evolution) are
allowed to flourish or experience
restoration if previously disturbed by
human activity. These are areas which
may buffer against the effects of climate
change and protect threatened species
and ecological communities.
Human visitation is limited to a minimum,
often allowing only those who are willing
to travel of their own devices (by foot, by
ski, or by boat), but this offers a unique
opportunity to experience wilderness that
has not been interfered with. Wilderness
areas can be classified as such only if they
are devoid of modern infrastructure,
though they allow human activity to the
level of sustaining indigenous groups and
their cultural and spiritual values within
their wilderness-based lifestyles.[6]

Category II – National Park

A national park (IUCN Category II) is
similar to a wilderness area in its size and
its main objective of protecting
functioning ecosystems. However,
national parks tend to be more lenient with
human visitation and its supporting
infrastructure. National parks are
managed in a way that may contribute to
local economies through promoting
educational and recreational tourism on a
scale that will not reduce the effectiveness
of conservation efforts.

The surrounding areas of a national park

may be for consumptive or non-
consumptive use but should nevertheless
act as a barrier for the defence of the
protected area's native species and
communities to enable them to sustain
themselves in the long term.[7]

Category III – Natural

Monument or Feature

A natural monument or feature (IUCN

Category III) is a comparatively smaller
area that is specifically allocated to
protect a natural monument and its
surrounding habitats. These monuments
can be natural in the wholest sense or
include elements that have been
influenced or introduced by humans. The
latter should hold biodiversity associations
or could otherwise be classified as a
historical or spiritual site, though this
distinction can be quite difficult to
ascertain.

To be categorised as a natural monument

or feature by IUCN's guidelines, the
protected area could include natural
geological or geomorphological features,
culturally-influenced natural features,
natural cultural sites, or cultural sites with
associated ecology. The classification
then falls into two subcategories: those in
which the biodiversity is uniquely related
to the conditions of the natural feature and
those in which the current levels of
biodiversity are dependent on the
presence of the sacred sites that have
created an essentially modified
ecosystem.

Natural monuments or features often play

a smaller but key ecological role in the
operations of broader conservation
objectives. They have a high cultural or
spiritual value that can be utilised to gain
support of conservation challenges by
allowing higher visitation or recreational
rights, therefore offering an incentive for
the preservation of the site.[8]
Category IV – Habitat/Species
Management Area

The Galápagos, Ecuador, is managed under category IV

to preserve the islands' native flora and fauna[9]

A habitat or species management area

(IUCN Category IV) is similar to a natural
monument or feature, but focuses on
more specific areas of conservation
(though size is not necessarily a
distinguishing feature), like an identifiable
species or habitat that requires continuous
protection rather than that of a natural
feature. These protected areas will be
sufficiently controlled to ensure the
maintenance, conservation, and
restoration of particular species and
habitats—possibly through traditional
means—and public education of such
areas is widely encouraged as part of the
management objectives.

Habitat or species management areas

may exist as a fraction of a wider
ecosystem or protected area and may
require varying levels of active protection.
Management measures may include (but
are not limited to) the prevention of
poaching, creation of artificial habitats,
halting natural succession, and
supplementary feeding practices.[10]

Category V – Protected
Landscape/Seascape

A protected landscape or protected

seascape (IUCN Category V) covers an
entire body of land or ocean with an
explicit natural conservation plan, but
usually also accommodates a range of for-
profit activities.

The main objective is to safeguard regions

that have built up a distinct and valuable
ecological, biological, cultural, or scenic
character. In contrast with previous
categories, Category V permits
surrounding communities to interact more
with the area, contributing to the area's
sustainable management and engaging
with its natural and cultural heritage.

Landscapes and seascapes that fall into

this category should represent an integral
balance between people and nature and
can sustain activities such as traditional
agricultural and forestry systems on
conditions that ensure the continued
protection or ecological restoration of the
area.
Category V is one of the more flexible
classifications of protected areas. As a
result, protected landscapes and
seascapes may be able to accommodate
contemporary developments, such as
ecotourism, at the same time as
maintaining the historical management
practices that may procure the
sustainability of agrobiodiversity and
aquatic biodiversity.[11]

Category VI – Protected Area

with sustainable use of natural
resources
Satellite image of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park,

Australia[12]

Though human involvement is a large

factor in the management of these
protected areas, developments are not
intended to allow for widescale industrial
production. The IUCN recommends that a
proportion of the land mass remains in its
natural condition—a decision to be made
on a national level, usually with specificity
to each protected area. Governance has to
be developed to adapt the diverse—and
possibly growing—range of interests that
arise from the production of sustainable
natural resources.

Category VI may be particularly suitable to

vast areas that already have a low level of
human occupation or in which local
communities and their traditional
practices have had little permanent impact
on the environmental health of the region.
This differs from category V in that it is not
the result of long-term human interaction
that has had a transformative effect on
surrounding ecosystems.[13]
See also
UNEP-WCMC — United Nations
Environment Programme - World
Conservation Monitoring Centre.
World Commission on Protected Areas
World Database on Protected Areas
IUCN protected area categories:
Strict nature reserve — Category Ia
Wilderness area — Category Ib
National park — Category II
Natural monument and Natural
feature — Category III
Habitat management area and
Species management area —
 Category IV
Protected landscape and Protected
seascape — Category V
Protected Area with sustainable use
of natural resources — Category VI

References
1. Francoise Burhenne-Guilmin (2011).
Guidelines for Protected Areas Legislation .
IUCN. p. 147. ISBN 9782831712451.
2. Mike J. Jeffries (2006). Biodiversity and
conservation (2nd ed.). Psychology Press.
p. 191. ISBN 9780415342995.
3. IUCN Guidelines for Applying Protected
Area Management Categories, Published 2
October 2008
4. Category Ia Strict Nature Reserve
5. Data for Serengeti National Park
(Category Ib) on Protected Planet
6. Category Ib Wilderness Area
7. Category II National Park Archived
2014-04-07 at the Wayback Machine.
8. Category III Natural Monument or
Feature
9. Data for The Galápagos Islands
(Category IV) on Protected Planet
10. Category IV Habitat/Species
Management Area
11. Category V Protected
Landscape/Seascape
12. Data for The Great Barrier Reef Marine
Park (Category VI) on Protected Planet
13. Category VI Protected Area with
sustainable use of natural resources

External links
IUCN Official IUCN Website
IUCN IUCN: Global Protected Area
Programme
IUCN IUCN: World Commission on
Protected Areas
World Database on Protected Areas
ProtectedPlanet.net
UNEP-WCMC Protected Areas
Programme
WDPA's Management Effectiveness
Information Module
2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership
Indicator Factsheet: Management
Effectiveness of Protected Areas
IUCN protected area categories:
A-Z of Areas of Biodiversity
Importance: IUCN Protected Area
Categories
A-Z of Areas of Biodiversity
Importance: IUCN Category Ia –
Strict Nature Reserve
A-Z of Areas of Biodiversity
Importance: IUCN Category Ib –
Wilderness Area
A-Z of Areas of Biodiversity
Importance: IUCN Category II –
National Park
A-Z of Areas of Biodiversity
Importance: IUCN Category III –
Natural Monument or Feature
A-Z of Areas of Biodiversity
Importance: IUCN Category IV –
Habitat / Species Management
Area
A-Z of Areas of Biodiversity
Importance: IUCN Category V –
 Protected Landscape / Seascape
A-Z of Areas of Biodiversity
Importance: IUCN Category VI –
Protected Area with sustainable use
of natural resources

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