Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 5 hrs ago
Study estimates 27% of Earth's land is already conserved
Researchers estimate about 27% of Earth's land is conserved, compared with 18.5% in the official global count.
Nearly every country has committed to protecting 30% of the planet's land and oceans by 2030.
The official count includes areas reported to a UN-backed database, while the study also counted sites listed in national records.
These include unreported parks and reserves, as well as Indigenous territories, community lands and private estates managed to conserve nature.
The estimate is based on a sample covering about a tenth of the world's land, so the researchers said the true figure may be higher.
The estimated land total is about three percentage points short of the 30% target, but adding uncounted areas did little to improve which habitats are protected.
Protection remains uneven across the world's natural regions, and the study does not say what happens next.
A study estimates that about 27% of the world’s land is already conserved, more than the 18.5% recorded in the official global count.
The estimate includes national and regional sites that have not been reported to a global database.
The researchers say the added land does little to address gaps in which habitats receive protection.
Their estimate is based on a sample covering about a tenth of the planet’s land.
- Who
- Researchers led by Helen O’Neill of the Zoological Society of London and Bob Smith of the University of Kent.
- What
- A study estimates that about 27% of Earth’s land is conserved in some form.
- When
- The article was published on 2026-10-28. The study’s official protected-area figure is based on 2022 data.
- Where
- The estimate concerns land worldwide, using a sample covering 25 countries and territories.
- Why
- The study counted conservation areas in national and regional records that are missing from the global database.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Protected areas in the global database covered 15.79% of the world’s land.
Earth.com published the study’s estimate that about 27% of the world’s land is conserved in some form.
- Estimated land conserved
- 26.81%
- Official land coverage in 2022
- 15.79%
- Unreported protected areas
- About 3.6%
- Potential OECMs
- 7.4%
- Study sample
- 25 countries and territories, covering about a tenth of the world’s land