Ownership of protected areas
Map | Governance table | State and territory levels of protection
Over 80 per cent of the protected area in Australia is publicly owned and managed by the Australian government or state and territory governments. This includes more than 6700 protected areas covering more than 72 million hectares or more than 9.4 per cent of Australia.
Ownership of protected areas
Source: CAPAD 2006 Download the Ownership map (PDF - 812 KB)
Indigenous community owned and managed lands are protected as Indigenous Protected Areas in Australia. They form the second largest component of the National Reserve System covering nearly two per cent of Australia.
There are almost 2000 protected areas on private land making up about 0.3 per cent of the area of protected areas; they perform an important role in protecting biodiversity value on private land in the agricultural and pastoral regions of Australia.
Local government is an emerging sector for protected area management in Australia and, like protected areas on private land, have great potential to contribute to the National Reserve System in coming years.
Ownership table
| Governance | Number of protected areas | Total area (ha) | Proportion of total protected area | Percent of Australia | Average size (ha) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Government | 6782 |
72,314,538 |
80.77% |
9.41% |
10,663 |
| Indigenous | 21 |
14,594,415 |
16.30% |
1.90% |
694,972 |
| Local Governments | 4 |
505 |
0.00% |
0.00% |
126 |
| Private | 1992 |
2,619,401 |
2.93% |
0.34% |
1,315 |
| Grand Total | 8799 |
89,528,859 |
100% |
11.64% |
10,175 |
State and territory levels of protection
The Australian Capital Territory has the highest level of protection at nearly 55 per cent and the Queensland has the lowest level of protection at 5.55 per cent. Western Australia manages the largest protected area estate of more than 33 million hectares and the Australian Capital Territory manages the smallest covering only 129,040 hectares. Victoria has the most protected areas with 2792 and the smallest average size of a protected area of 1,373 hectares. The largest average size of a protected area is in the Northern Territory at 83,050 hectares compared with the national average size of 10,175 hectares.
| Region | Area (ha) | NRS (ha) | Percent in the NRS | Proportion of the NRS | Number of protected areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACT | 235,813 |
129,040 |
54.72% |
0.14% |
42 |
| NSW | 80,121,268 |
6,755,799 |
8.43% |
7.55% |
736 |
| NT | 134,778,762 |
7,889,765 |
5.85% |
8.81% |
95 |
| QLD | 172,973,671 |
9,608,482 |
5.55% |
10.73% |
854 |
| SA | 98,422,137 |
25,115,120 |
25.52% |
28.05% |
1845 |
| TAS | 6,840,133 |
2,721,393 |
39.79% |
3.04% |
950 |
| VIC | 22,754,364 |
3,832,095 |
16.84% |
4.28% |
2792 |
| WA | 252,700,808 |
33,477,166 |
13.25% |
37.39% |
1485 |
| Australia | 768,826,956 |
89,528,859 |
11.64% |
100.00% |
8799 |
National Reserve System video
