User:Ijxw33/Protected area

Protection of ecosystem services
Along with providing important stocks of natural resources, protected areas are often major sources of vital ecosystem services, unbeknownst to human society. Although biodiversity is usually the main reason for constructing protected areas, the protection of biodiversity also protects the ecosystem services society enjoys. Some ecosystem services include those that provision, regulate, support, and represent culture. Provisioning services provide resources to humanity, such as fuel and water, while regulating services include carbon sequestration, climate regulation, and protection against disease. Supporting ecosystem services include nutrient cycling, while cultural services are a source of aesthetic and cultural value for tourism and heritage. Such services are often overlooked by humanity, due to the ecosystem from which they originate being far from urbanized areas. The contamination of ecosystem services within a designated area ultimately degrades their use for society. Therefore, the implementation of protected areas is vital to maintaining the quality and consistency of ecosystem services. For example, the protection of a water body inherently protects that water body’s microorganisms and their ability to adequately filter pollutants and pathogens, ultimately protecting water quality itself.

EDIT SUMMARY: Below, copied from Protected area.

Australia
The National Heritage List is a heritage register, a list of national heritage places deemed to be of outstanding heritage significance to Australia, established in 2003. The list includes natural and historic places, including those of cultural significance to Indigenous Australians. Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) are formed by agreement with Indigenous Australians, and declared by Indigenous Australians, and form a specific class of protected area.

European Union
Natura 2000 is a network of protected areas established by the EU across all member states. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs) designated respectively under the Habitats Directive and Birds Directive. 787767 km2 are designated as terrestrial sites and 251564 km2 as marine sites. Overall, 18 percent of the EU land mass is designated.

India
Protected areas of India include National parks, Wildlife sanctuaries, biosphere reserves, reserved and protected forests, conservation and community reserves, communal forests, private protected areas and conservation areas.

Nicaragua
O Parks, Wildlife, and Recreation is a private protected area, also known as a 'Private Reserve' predominantly managed for biodiversity conservation, protected without formal government recognition and is owned and stewarded by the O corporation International. O parks plays a particularly important role in conserving critical biodiversity in a section of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor known as the Paso del Istmo, located along the 12-mile-wide isthmus between Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific Ocean.

United States
, according to the United Nations Environment Programme, the United States had a total of 6770 terrestrial nationally designated (federal) protected areas. These protected areas cover 2607131 km2, or 27.08 percent of the land area of the United States. This is also one-tenth of the protected land area of the world.

Russia
On 21 May 2019, The Moscow Times cited a World Wildlife Fund report indicating that Russia now ranks first in the world for its amount of protected natural areas with 63.3 million hectares of specially protected natural areas. However, the article did not contain a link to WWF's report and it may be based on previously gathered data.

China
As an area known for a high level of biodiversity, China has begun implementing various protected areas in recent years. As of the year 2017, China has nearly 10,000 to 12,000 protected areas, 80% of which are nature reserves aiming to foster biodiversity conservation. These newly implemented reserves safeguard a range of ecosystems, from tropical forests to marine habitats. Ultimately, these protected areas encompass nearly 20% of China’s land area.