Progress towards protecting 30% of Land and Seas by 2030 for Eastern and Southern Africa
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Explore the 25 countries covered by our region.
National animalSpringbokAntidorcas marsupialisLeast concernIUCN Red List global status - not currently threatened.The national animal, and the emblem of South African sport.Photo: Yathin S Krishnappa · CC BY-SA 3.0
01Coverage
Progress made towards the 30% target by 2030
Terrestrial
118k km² of 1.22M km²
Marine
239k km² of 1.55M km²
Coverage by realm
Coverage trend 1903–2025
From each site's year of current legal status, available for 100% of sites. Sums site areas, so overlapping designations count more than once. The terrestrial curve therefore ends slightly above the 9.7% reported today. Each line is a share of its own realm's area, so the two share an axis but not a denominator.
02Where the sites are
How is the protected estate distributed?
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Circle size ∝ site areaProtected Area (PA)Other Effective Conservation Measure (OECM)
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03Management assessment
Has management effectiveness been assessed?
6.4%
of protected land assessed
276 / 1,731
sites assessed
0
IUCN Green Listed sites
Assessment methods used
04Governance
Who governs the protected estate?
Share of area by governance type
Federal or national ministry or agency90.5%
775 sites · 343k km²
Individual landowners6.8%
926 sites · 26k km²
Not Reported2.5%
29 sites · 9.6k km²
Joint governance0.2%
1 sites · 590 km²
0.0%governed by Indigenous peoples & local communities0IPLC-governed sites
05Protected areas & OECMs
What makes up the protected estate?
1,731
protected areas
0
OECMs
20.3%
still to reach 30% on land
Cumulative area designated, by year
Running total of land inside sites whose current legal status dates from that year or earlier, split PA vs OECM.
2transboundary sites1,695nationally designated
06Designations
What kinds of protected area are they?
Sites by designation
Nature Reserve1,474
Protected Environment70
Forest Nature Reserve57
Marine Protected Area42
Wetland of International Importance (Ramsar Site)31
Other57
“Other” covers 5 further designations; the full list is in the table view.
