Share of land area that is protected in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Share of land area that is protected was 3.7% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of land area that is protected in Papua New Guinea, 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
Papua New Guinea recorded 3.7% for share of land area that is protected in 2025. That is the highest value across all 13 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 19.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of land area that is protected in Papua New Guinea peaked at 3.7% in 2019 and was at its lowest, 3.1%, in 2013.
That places Papua New Guinea 191st 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 Papua New Guinea, year by year
| Year | % of total land area | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 3.1% | — |
| 2014 | 3.1% | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 3.1% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 3.1% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 3.1% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 3.1% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 3.7% | +19.4% |
| 2020 | 3.7% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 3.7% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 3.7% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 3.7% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 3.7% | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 3.7% | +0.0% |
Papua New Guinea compared with similar countries
- Papua New Guinea's 3.7% is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 18.8%, 20% of the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Papua New Guinea's 3.7% is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 15.8%, 23% of the median. (36 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 3.2% | 3.1% | 3.7% | 7 |
| 2020s | 3.7% | 3.7% | 3.7% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
More reference data data for Papua New Guinea
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.2042 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0498 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.3515 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0007 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.3515 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.6846 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.5295 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.2811 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 1.89 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0038 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of land area that is protected in Papua New Guinea?
- Share of land area that is protected in Papua New Guinea was 3.7% 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 Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 3.7% in 2019.
- What is the lowest share of land area that is protected recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.1% in 2013.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for share of land area that is protected?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 191st out of 213 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of land area that is protected rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 19.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Papua New Guinea 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.