Percentage of Ecoregion Protected

Abstract

Protected areas are defined as legally established areas, both land and water, that are regulated and managed for conservation objectives. They include parks, wildlife and forest reserves, wilderness and other areas designated through federal, provincial, and territorial legislations. While there are over 3500 of these protected areas, there are approximately 800 areas that are larger than 1000 hectares. These areas capture over 98% of the total area protected in Canada. While there are more protected areas in southern Canada, these are generally small compared with the few, but very large, protected areas in Canadas North. Note that smaller protected areas (that is, less than 1000 hectares) and private protected areas, although important, are not included in this analysis. Map depicts the area protected for each of the 194 Ecoregions of Canada as a percentage of the total area of the ecoregion.