Analiza zavarovanih območij narave na svetovni ravni ter primerjava z Evropo in Slovenijo ( = Analysis of protected areas of nature on the global level and a comparison to Europe and Slovenia)

Abstract

Protected areas are an important instrument in the successful long-term preservation of biodiversity; however, despite the continued growth in their number and size, they still cannot prevent biodiversity loss. This article focuses on an analysis of the protected areas of different countries and continents, an analysis of Slovenia's position in relation to European and other countries, and on an analysis of the correlation between protected areas and other socio-economic indicators. South America stands out with the fastest growth in the area and the coverage of protected areas in 1990–2010, with the largest average size of the protected area, with a maximum total area and the highest share of protected areas. Europe, however, stands out with the highest number of protected areas and the smallest average size of the protected area. Despite the definition of Slovenia as a biodiversity hotspot, this is not reflected in the percentage of protected areas, although there high shares of biosphere reserves and other protected areas. In addition to the impact of biodiversity on the establishment of protected areas, the analysis suggests significant impacts of different social, economic and political factors. The scope of environmental policy increases with economic development and, in this way, the differences in protected areas between countries with high income and low-income countries are even greater.

Keywords

• nature protected areas
• correlations
• biodiversity
• gross domestic product (GDP)