Nearly 10% of global ocean now protected, 2% increase since 2024: UNEP

Protecting 10 per cent of the global ocean within protected and conserved areas has long been a benchmark for international conservation efforts and has been achieved, according to the latest update. But despite the considerable progress, the international community still needs to make efforts to protect an area almost the size of the Indian Ocean by 2030, the United Nations said.

Governments collectively committed in December 2022 to conserve 30 per cent of Earth’s land and seas by 2030 at the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), to tackle the global nature crisis under the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF).

Under the 23 agreed targets, the CBD parties committed to conserving nature by protecting and conserving areas, incorporating sustainable use of resources, and recognising Indigenous and traditional territories through these areas.

As per the latest records from The Protected Planet Report 2024, 8.6 per cent of ocean and coastal areas globally were within documented protected and conserved areas. A new statement from the United Nations Environment Programme stated that during the past two years, the world has protected nearly 5 million square kilometres of ocean, an area larger than the European Union.

The achievement comes six years after the deadline pledged under the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, where countries agreed to protect 10 per cent of the ocean by 2020.

The report observed that the data was crucial but insufficient to understand the effectiveness of protected and conserved areas. As per the report, only 1.3 per cent of the ocean was covered by protected areas where management effectiveness had been assessed and reported.

The new areas were included in March in the World Database on Protected and Conserved Areas (WDCPA) — a platform that displays national datasets, alongside data on protected and conserved areas beyond national jurisdictions.

WDCPA, a joint venture of UNEP and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, tracks global progress towards the KMGBF.

In an email query, Neville Ash, director of UNEP-WCMC, the specialist biodiversity centre of UNEP, told Down To Earth that a total of 175 marine or coastal sites have been designated since 2024, based on current WDCPA data.

Most are new protected areas or Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures. These are categorised as geographically defined areas, outside formal protected areas, that aim to achieve positive, long-term in-situ biodiversity conservation.

UNEP has added some new zones to expand existing protected areas. “The new sites are geographically diverse, with examples in Asia, Oceania, Africa, Europe, North America and South America. Some of the new sites cover vast areas. Tainui Atea, designated in French Polynesia in 2025, is now the largest marine protected areas (MPA) in the world at 4.5 million square kilometres. The two new zones added to the Heard Island and McDonald Islands Commonwealth Marine Reserve in Australia (2024) add around 309,700 km² to its total extent,” he said.

In 2025, an existing marine reserve in the sub-Antarctic islands of Heard Island and McDonald Islands was expanded by 400 per cent, creating a protected area nearly the size of Norway.

According to UNEP, the islands are among the most remote places on Earth in the Southern Ocean and a World Heritage Area. They provide crucial breeding and feeding grounds for hundreds of thousands of seals and birds, including penguins, albatrosses and petrels. In addition, whales, dolphins and sea lions are regular visitors to the islands.

A statement from UNEP said an estimated 95 per cent of habitat on Earth by volume is in the high seas. In these areas beyond national jurisdiction, however, coverage by protected and conserved areas is only 1.66 per cent. This is despite the high seas comprising over 60 per cent of the surface of the ocean.

“Recent analyses using the MPA Guide have shown that many MPAs are not actively managed. Destructive activities may be taking place even in those areas that are actively managed, reducing the effectiveness of these areas for biodiversity conservation. Data on effective management and equitable governance remains sparse,” it noted.

The next official evaluation of global progress on Target 3 under the KMGBF is expected to be documented in The Protected Planet Report 2027.