List of largest protected areas
# List of largest protected areas

The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is compiled and managed by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, an executive agency of the United Nations Environment Programme. It uses the IUCN and CBD definitions of protected areas to determine whether a site should be included in the WDPA. The extent to which each area and the resources within are protected can vary significantly.

The largest protected areas – those exceeding an area of 250,000 square kilometres – are listed below in order of total area protected. All are marine protected areas except for Northeast Greenland National Park – which is mostly terrestrial but also has a marine component – and three entirely terrestrial biosphere reserves in Brazil. Protected areas with multiple coterminous or overlapping designations (e.g. Northeast Greenland National Park and the corresponding Biosphere Reserve) are listed only once.

Currently, Marae Moana is the largest protected area in the world with a total area larger than Mexico (1,964,375 $km^2).$

## Largest protected areas of the world

| Rank | Name | Country | Location | Size $(km^2)$ | Year |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Marae Moana | Cook Islands | Cook Islands | 1,976,000 | 2017 |
| 2 | French Southern Territories National Nature Reserve | France | French Southern and Antarctic Lands | 1,600,000 | 2016 |
| 3 | Ross Sea Region Marine Protected Area | Antarctica | Ross Sea | 1,550,000 | 2016 |
| 4 | Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument | United States | Hawaii and Midway Atoll | 1,508,846 | 2006 |
| 5 | Natural Park of the Coral Sea | France | New Caledonia | 1,292,967 | 2014 |
| 6 | Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument | United States | Central Pacific Ocean | 1,270,480 | 2009 |
| 7 | South Georgia Marine Protected Area | United Kingdom | South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands | 1,240,000 | 2012 |
| 8 | Coral Sea Marine Park | Australia | Coral Sea | 989,836 | 2018 |
| 9 | Protection zone around the French Southern Territories National Nature Reserve | France | French Southern and Antarctic Lands | 989,787 | 2017 |
| 10 | Northeast Greenland National Park | Greenland | Northeast Greenland | 972,000 | 1974 |
| 11 | Steller Sea Lion Protection Areas | United States | Alaska | 869,206 | 2002 |
| 12 | Pitcairn Islands Marine Reserve | United Kingdom | Pitcairn Islands | 834,334 | 2016 |
| 13 | British Indian Ocean Territory Marine Protected Area | United Kingdom | British Indian Ocean Territory (disputed by Mauritius) | 640,000 | 2010 |
| 14 | Rapa Nui Marine and Coastal Protected Area | Chile | Rapa Nui | 579,368 | 2018 |
| 15 | Palau National Marine Sanctuary | Palau | Palau | 502,538 | 2015 |
| 16 | Kermadec Benthic Protection Area | New Zealand | Kermadec Islands | 469,276 | 2007 |
| 17 | Ascension Exclusive Economic Zone | United Kingdom | Ascension Island | 440,000 | 2019 |
| 18 | Phoenix Islands Protected Area | Kiribati | Phoenix Islands | 408,250 | 2006 |
| 19 | Trindade and Martin Vaz Archipelago Environmental Protection Area | Brazil | Trindade and Martin Vaz | 403,848 | 2018 |
| 20 | Pacific Biosphere Reserve | Mexico | Eastern Pacific Ocean | 390,091 | 2016 |
| 21 | Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago Environmental Protection Area | Brazil | Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago | 384,565 | 2018 |
| 22 | Great Barrier Reef Marine Park | Australia | Great Barrier Reef | 348,700 | 1981 |
| 23 | Offshore Trap/Pot Waters Area | United States | Western Atlantic Ocean | 336,101 | 1997 |
| 24 | Tuvaijuittuq Marine Protected Area | Canada | Ellesmere Island | 319,411 | 2019 |
| 25 | Nazca-Desventuradas Marine Park | Chile | Desventuradas Islands | 300,035 | 2016 |
| 26 | Cerrado Biosphere Reserve | Brazil | Goiás, Maranhão, Piauí, Tocantins, and Federal District | 296,525 | 1994 |
| 27 | Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve | Brazil | Atlantic Forest (15 states) | 294,734 | 1993 |
| 28 | Pantanal Biosphere Reserve | Brazil | Goiás, Mato Grosso, and Mato Grosso do Sul | 251,569 | 2000 |
