WDPCA: Protected and Conserved Areas in the Netherlands

This geospatial dataset documents marine and terrestrial protected areas and Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) across the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Maintained by the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and updated monthly, it serves as the primary source for tracking international biodiversity targets.

Use Cases

• Calculating the percentage of land and water under conservation to track Target 3 of the Global Biodiversity Framework
• Identifying biodiversity risks within project boundaries for commercial environmental assessments using spatial polygons
• Mapping the spatial distribution of marine versus terrestrial protected zones for regional planning

Strengths

• Monthly update cycle ensures current status of conservation designations
• Integration of both WDPA and WD-OECM frameworks into a single source
• Available in four formats including GeoJSON, GeoPackage, and CSV

Limitations

• Attribute column definitions are not provided in the source metadata
• Relies on external reporting from national government stakeholders which may have reporting lags

Provenance

Source

UNEP-WCMC and IUCN

Collection Method

Compiled from government and stakeholder reporting

Freshness

Updated on a monthly basis

Geography

Netherlands (Kingdom of the)