PARC: Protected Area Representativeness Index: 30s global time series

Note: a new and updated version of PARC: Protected Area Representativeness Index has now been published superseding this collection. The updated version is available via the Data Access Portal at the following link: https://data.csiro.au/collection/csiro:72585v4. The collection associated with this page will remain for the near term for legacy purposes.

CSIRO Protected Area Representativeness Index (PARC: Representativeness) is a global 30 arc-second product for 1970,1980,1990,2000,2005,2010,2015, 2020, and 2024. The Protected Area Representativeness and Connectedness (PARC) indices measure the extent to which terrestrial protected areas, and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs), are ecologically representative, and well-connected (both to one another, and to other areas of intact natural ecosystems in the surrounding landscape). For the purposes of reporting against the 2010-2020 Aichi Targets, the PARC was originally configured as two separate indicators: the Protected Area Representativeness Index (or ‘PARC-representativeness’) and the Protected Area Connectedness Index (or ‘PARC-connectedness’). However, these two indices were always designed in a manner which would allow them to be logically combined to yield a composite indicator of the extent to which a system of protected areas and OECMs is both ecologically representative and well-connected.

The PARC indices, whether generated separately or as a composite, are used to monitor and report past-to-present trends in representativeness and connectedness by repeated calculation using best-available mapping of protected areas and OECMs at multiple points in time, e.g. for different years. They can also provide a foundation for assessing the contribution that potential additions to the system of protected areas and OECMs might make to improving present PARC scores, thereby providing a foundation for prioritising such actions.

The PARC indices time series from 1970-2020 can be viewed on the UN Biodiversity Lab web map via the link in the Related Links section below.