IS THERE A NEED TO MONITOR CONSERVATION AGENCIES?

摘要

The 2003 United Nations list of Protected Areas, launched at the Vth IUCN World Parks Congress, records more than 100,000 sites covering 18.8 million km~2. Of the total area protected, it is estimated that 17.1 million km~2 constitute terrestrial areas, or 11.5 percent of the global issues. Marine areas are significantly under-represented, with only 1.64 million km~2 being protected - an estimated 0.5 percent of the world's oceans and less than one-tenth of the overall total. Taking the planet's surface as a whole, forest and woodland covers 26.1 percent of the world's surface and permanent pasture covers 23.4 percent. Protected areas - with 11.5 percent exceed the total area of arable land (9.2 percent) and permanent crops (0.9 percent). Thus, nature conservation has become one of the most important human activities on the planet.