Share of land area that is protected in Gambia
Gambia: Share of land area that is protected was 7.7% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of land area that is protected in Gambia, 2013–2025
Source: Protected Planet WDPA and WD-OECM data, UNEP-WCMC and IUCN, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in % of total land area.
Analysis
Gambia recorded 7.7% for share of land area that is protected in 2025. That is the highest value across all 13 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.3% on the previous year and up 87.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of land area that is protected in Gambia peaked at 7.7% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 4.1%, in 2013.
That places Gambia 169th out of 213 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 13 years of available data.
Share of land area that is protected in Gambia, year by year
| Year | % of total land area | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 4.1% | — |
| 2014 | 4.1% | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 4.1% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 4.1% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 4.1% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 4.1% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 4.1% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 7.7% | +87.8% |
| 2021 | 7.7% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 7.7% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 7.7% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 7.6% | -1.3% |
| 2025 | 7.7% | +1.3% |
Gambia compared with similar countries
- Gambia's 7.7% is below the median for low income countries, which is 12.6%, 61% of the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Gambia's 7.7% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 16.9%, 46% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 4.1% | 4.1% | 4.1% | 7 |
| 2020s | 7.7% | 7.6% | 7.7% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Gambia
More reference data data for Gambia
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0121 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.2798 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.3524 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0232 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.3524 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0407 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.0331 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.36 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 1.72 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.1264 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of land area that is protected in Gambia?
- Share of land area that is protected in Gambia was 7.7% in 2025, according to Protected Planet WDPA and WD-OECM data, UNEP-WCMC and IUCN, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of land area that is protected recorded in Gambia?
- The highest recorded value was 7.7% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of land area that is protected recorded in Gambia?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.1% in 2013.
- How does Gambia rank for share of land area that is protected?
- Gambia ranks 169th out of 213 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of land area that is protected rising or falling in Gambia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 87.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Gambia data come from?
- The figures come from Protected Planet WDPA and WD-OECM data, UNEP-WCMC and IUCN, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of land area that is protected. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 13 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Terrestrial protected areas are areas of at least 1,000 hectares that are designated by national authorities in order to preserve their ecosystem services and cultural values.