Locations of NRS protected areas
More than 11 per cent of Australia's landmass is protected in the National Reserve system and is made up of over 9,000 protected areas. In all, the National Reserve System covers an area about five times the size of Tasmania.
In the last decade, more than 28 million hectares have been added to the National Reserve System:
- 20.2 million hectares from 24 Indigenous Protected Areas
- Almost 5.7 million hectares established with State and Territory Governments
- 2.3 million hectares with non-government organisations.
The following map shows the extent of the National Reserve System:
The National Reserve System
Protected areas by IUCN category
The following map shows the located of protected areas categorised according to IUCN management categories:
IUCN Management Categories
IUCN management categories
The largest portion (40%) of the protected area estate in Australia is categorised as National Park (IUCN Category II). On average the largest size of a protected area is Wilderness (Category IB) averaging more than 100,000 hectares, which is more than twice the size of the next largest category National Parks at 43,000 hectares. The large size of these protected area categories indicates they are sufficiently large to meet management objectives of protecting wilderness values and landscape scale biodiversity values. The smallest category is IUCN category III, Natural Monuments, averaging just under 500 hectares. These protected areas are established for the purpose of protecting specific natural features and remnants, which are generally restricted to smaller sites.
Two thirds of all protected areas are considered to be strictly protected, falling within IUCN categories I to IV. They include more than 7500 protected areas covering more than 63 million hectares. The remaining 1200 protected areas (category V and VI) are multiple use covering more than 26 million hectares.
IUCN table
| IUCN Category | Number of protected areas | Total area (ha) | Proportion of total protected area | Percent of Australia | Average size (ha) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IA | 2200 |
18,515,397 |
21% |
2.41% |
8,416 |
| IB | 44 |
4,786,179 |
5% |
0.62% |
108,777 |
| II | 830 |
36,148,340 |
40% |
4.70% |
43,552 |
| III | 2312 |
1,104,307 |
1% |
0.14% |
478 |
| III | 2312 |
1,104,307 |
1% |
0.14% |
478 |
| IV | 2151 |
2,926,137 |
3% |
0.38% |
1,360 |
| V | 210 |
850,178 |
1% |
0.11% |
4,048 |
| VI | 1052 |
25,198,320 |
28% |
3.28% |
23,953 |
| Grand Total | 8799 |
89,528,859 |
100% |
11.64% |
10,175 |
Governance of protected areas
The following map shows the governance of protected areas categorised according to IUCN:
Governance of protected areas
Ownership of protected areas
Governance indicates the type of ownership and management that a protected area is subjected to. Over 80% of the area of the protected area estate in Australia is publicly owned and managed by the Australian government or State and Territory governments. This includes more than 6700 protected areas covering more than 72 million hectares or more than 9.4% of Australia. Community owned and managed lands are protected as Indigenous Protected Areas in Australia. They form the second largest component of the NRS. Although there are only 21 Indigenous protected areas in CAPAD 2006 their average size is almost 700,000 hectares and they cover nearly 2% of Australia. There are almost 2000 protected areas on private land making up about 3% of the area of protected areas; they perform an important role in protecting biodiversity value on private land in the agricultural and pastoral regions of Australia. Local government is an emerging sector for protected area management in Australia. The figures presented here underestimate their role and their potential to contribute to the protection of biodiversity.
Governance table
| Governance | Number of protected areas | Total area (ha) | Proportion of total protected area | Percent of Australia | Average size (ha) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Government | 6782 |
72,314,538 |
80.77% |
9.41% |
10,663 |
| Indigenous | 21 |
14,594,415 |
16.30% |
1.90% |
694,972 |
| Local Govt | 4 |
505 |
0.00% |
0.00% |
126 |
| Private | 1992 |
2,619,401 |
2.93% |
0.34% |
1,315 |
| Grand Total | 8799 |
89,528,859 |
100% |
11.64% |
10,175 |
Protection of IBRA regions
The following map shows the levels of protection in each IBRA region:
There are 85 IBRA regions in Australia. All have some representation in the NRS. There are 35 IBRA regions that have less than the CBD target of 10% protected; 50 IBRA regions exceed this target. The Tasmania West IBRA region has more than 84% protected and the Finke IBRA region in central Australia has only 0.03% protected.
IBRA representation graph:
Protection of IBRA Subregions
The following map shows the level of protection in each IBRA subregion:
There are 403 IBRA subregions in the Australia. There are 44 (or nearly 11%) subregions without any representation in the NRS. A further 144 subregions have less than 5% represented in the NRS. 120 have more than 15% represented in the NRS.
State and Territory levels of protection
The Australian Capital Territory has the highest level of protection at nearly 55% and the Queensland has the lowest level of protection at 5.55%. Western Australia manages the largest protected area estate of more than 33 million hectares and the ACT manages the smallest covering only 129,040 hectares. Victoria has the most protected areas - 2792 and the smallest average size of a protected area of 1,373 hectares. The largest average size of a protected area is in the Northern Territory at 83,050 hectares compared with the national average size of 10,175 hectares.
State and Territory levels of protection table:
| Region | Area (ha) | NRS (ha) | Percent in the NRS | Proportion of the NRS | Number of protected areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACT | 235,813 |
129,040 |
54.72% |
0.14% |
42 |
| NSW | 80,121,268 |
6,755,799 |
8.43% |
7.55% |
736 |
| NT | 134,778,762 |
7,889,765 |
5.85% |
8.81% |
95 |
| QLD | 172,973,671 |
9,608,482 |
5.55% |
10.73% |
854 |
| SA | 98,422,137 |
25,115,120 |
25.52% |
28.05% |
1845 |
| TAS | 6,840,133 |
2,721,393 |
39.79% |
3.04% |
950 |
| VIC | 22,754,364 |
3,832,095 |
16.84% |
4.28% |
2792 |
| WA | 252,700,808 |
33,477,166 |
13.25% |
37.39% |
1485 |
| Australia | 768,826,956 |
89,528,859 |
11.64% |
100.00% |
8799 |
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