15.2.1 Proportion of forest area within legally established protected areas — Value by country

As the custodian agency of 22 SDG indicators, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is responsible for curating and refining the methodologies of these indicators, collecting data from national sources, ensuring their quality and compatibility with applicable standards and...

Countries reporting
179
Highest
100 %
Saudi Arabia
Lowest
0.12 %
Northern Mariana Islands
Median
18.33 %
Years covered
36
1990–2025
Data points
1,307

What the numbers show

15.2.1 Proportion of forest area within legally established protected areas — Value is currently reported for 179 countries. The highest value is 100 % in Saudi Arabia; the lowest is 0.12 % in Northern Mariana Islands.

The median across all reporting countries is 18.33 %, and the mean is 24.3 %.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 833.

Over the past decade 63 countries rose and 20 fell. The largest increase was in Sierra Leone (up 348.7%), and the largest decrease in Côte d'Ivoire (down 46.7%).

15.2.1 Proportion of forest area within legally established protected: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Saudi Arabia 100 % 2025 unchanged flat
1 Norfolk Island 100 % 2025 unchanged flat
1 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 78.32 % 2025 unchanged rising
2 Cabo Verde 48.33 % 2025 unchanged flat
2 Türkiye 37.79 % 2025 up 13.0% rising
3 Uzbekistan 99.74 % 2025 up 12.4% rising
3 Syrian Arab Republic 35.54 % 2025 up 0.7% flat
4 Cook Islands 95.64 % 2025 unchanged flat
4 United Republic of Tanzania 34.45 % 2025 unchanged flat
5 Faroe Islands 87.5 % 2025 unchanged flat
6 Zambia 82.55 % 2025 up 18.7% rising
6 Lao People's Democratic Republic 25.66 % 2025 down 1.6% falling
7 Réunion 72.98 % 2025 down 7.8% volatile
8 Sri Lanka 69.47 % 2025 up 17.4% rising
8 Caribbean 29.93 % 2025 up 37.2% rising
8 Republic of Moldova 22.39 % 2025 up 14.1% rising
9 Pitcairn 66.67 % 2025 unchanged flat
9 Micronesia (Federated States of) 16.18 % 2025 unchanged flat
10 Netherlands (Kingdom of the) 59.48 % 2025 unchanged rising
10 Viet Nam 15.63 % 2025 up 4.3% rising
11 Nepal 59.32 % 2025 up 8.8% rising
11 Democratic Republic of the Congo 14.14 % 2025 up 4.7% rising
12 Indonesia 54.48 % 2025 down 0.0% rising
12 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 14.05 % 2025 unchanged flat
13 Belize 54.46 % 2025 down 0.7% flat
13 Polynesia 14.04 % 2025 unchanged flat
14 Guinea 54.38 % 2025 unchanged flat
14 Democratic People's Republic of Korea 12.69 % 2025 up 1.5% flat
15 Slovakia 54.25 % 2025 up 3.6% volatile
16 Uganda 53.93 % 2025 up 26.5% falling
17 Sao Tome and Principe 53.61 % 2025 unchanged volatile
17 Micronesia 8.76 % 2025 unchanged flat
18 Guatemala 50.29 % 2025 down 2.6% falling
18 Melanesia 4.26 % 2025 unchanged rising
19 Kenya 49.66 % 2025 down 2.2% flat
20 Mozambique 47.07 % 2025 up 13.5% rising
21 Montserrat 46.69 % 2025 down 2.6% volatile
22 Rwanda 45.8 % 2025 unchanged flat
23 Chad 45.62 % 2025 up 28.7% rising
23 Côte d'Ivoire 15.87 % 2025 down 46.7% falling
24 Croatia 45.47 % 2025 unchanged volatile
25 Hungary 42.52 % 2025 unchanged volatile
26 Thailand 41.28 % 2025 unchanged flat
27 Burundi 41.12 % 2025 unchanged flat
27 Bhutan 41.12 % 2025 up 1.1% flat
29 Sierra Leone 40.65 % 2025 up 348.7% volatile
30 Spain 40.18 % 2020 up 1.4% volatile
31 Bahrain 39.42 % 2025 unchanged flat
32 Mauritius 38.72 % 2025 unchanged rising
33 Romania 37.76 % 2025 unchanged volatile
34 Dominica 37.02 % 2025 unchanged flat
35 Slovenia 36.32 % 2025 up 76.4% volatile
36 New Zealand 36.22 % 2025 unchanged rising
37 Benin 36.01 % 2025 unchanged flat
38 Kazakhstan 35.69 % 2025 up 9.4% volatile
39 Cuba 35.59 % 2025 up 93.3% volatile
40 Dominican Republic 35.21 % 2025 up 3.2% flat
41 Turks and Caicos Islands 34.98 % 2025 unchanged flat
42 Cambodia 34.84 % 2025 unchanged falling
43 Azerbaijan 34.42 % 2025 unchanged rising
44 Madagascar 34.35 % 2025 unchanged rising
45 Poland 33.92 % 2025 up 0.8% volatile
46 Lithuania 32.69 % 2025 up 55.4% rising
47 Saint Lucia 32.56 % 2025 unchanged rising
48 Italy 31.76 % 2025 unchanged rising
49 Guadeloupe 31.65 % 2025 up 0.8% flat
50 Liechtenstein 31.53 % 2025 unchanged rising
51 Malawi 30.91 % 2025 unchanged flat
52 Guinea-Bissau 30.39 % 2025 unchanged flat
53 French Guiana 30 % 2025 down 1.6% rising
54 Georgia 29.44 % 2025 up 233.4% volatile
55 Malaysia 29.1 % 2025 up 14.5% rising
56 Germany 28.92 % 2025 unchanged rising
57 Belgium 26.59 % 2025 up 1.6% volatile
58 Ecuador 25.79 % 2025 down 1.6% rising
59 Martinique 25.64 % 2025 unchanged rising
60 Seychelles 24.39 % 2025 unchanged flat
61 Chile 23.95 % 2025 up 16.0% rising
62 Equatorial Guinea 23.73 % 2025 unchanged rising
63 Philippines 23.59 % 2025 unchanged flat
64 Russian Federation 23.36 % 2025 up 6.6% rising
65 Jamaica 22.93 % 2025 up 2.3% flat
66 Estonia 22.74 % 2025 up 10.5% rising
67 Nigeria 22.32 % 2025 unchanged flat
68 Albania 21.74 % 2025 unchanged rising
69 Zimbabwe 21.51 % 2025 unchanged flat
70 Colombia 20.99 % 2025 up 4.3% rising
70 Mongolia 20.99 % 2025 unchanged rising
72 Namibia 20.95 % 2025 unchanged flat
73 Singapore 20.34 % 2025 unchanged flat
74 Ghana 20.27 % 2025 down 7.6% flat
75 Puerto Rico 19.87 % 2025 up 44.9% rising
76 Gabon 19.66 % 2025 down 5.2% rising
77 Australia and New Zealand 19.34 % 2025 up 0.8% rising
78 Niger 19.27 % 2025 unchanged flat
79 New Caledonia 19.05 % 2025 unchanged rising
80 Belarus 19.04 % 2025 up 47.3% rising
81 India 18.45 % 2025 up 8.3% rising
82 Latvia 18.33 % 2025 up 14.5% falling
83 Cameroon 18.18 % 2025 down 4.7% flat
83 Israel 18.18 % 2025 down 16.7% rising
85 Australia 18.09 % 2025 up 0.9% rising
86 Ethiopia 17.68 % 2025 unchanged flat
87 Serbia 17.21 % 2025 up 5.8% rising
88 Bangladesh 16.69 % 2025 up 18.5% rising
89 Myanmar 16.55 % 2025 unchanged volatile
90 American Samoa 16.03 % 2025 unchanged falling
91 Djibouti 15.93 % 2025 unchanged volatile
92 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 15.73 % 2025 unchanged flat
93 South Africa 15.64 % 2025 unchanged flat
94 Bulgaria 15.55 % 2025 down 15.4% rising
95 Finland 14.75 % 2025 up 6.0% rising
96 Lesotho 14.48 % 2025 unchanged flat
97 China, mainland 14.47 % 2025 up 6.4% rising
98 Czechia 14.28 % 2025 down 5.5% rising
99 Mexico 13.6 % 2025 up 10.9% rising
100 Denmark 13.18 % 2025 up 96.7% volatile
101 Grenada 13.11 % 2025 unchanged flat
102 Congo 12.97 % 2025 up 5.1% rising
103 Iraq 12.76 % 2025 unchanged flat
104 Cayman Islands 12.34 % 2025 unchanged flat
105 Bahamas 11.76 % 2025 unchanged flat
106 Senegal 11.75 % 2025 up 0.1% rising
107 Suriname 11.74 % 2025 down 7.8% flat
108 Sudan 11.42 % 2025 unchanged rising
109 Burkina Faso 11.31 % 2025 down 3.4% falling
110 Saint Martin (French Part) 11.29 % 2025 unchanged rising
111 Botswana 10.89 % 2025 unchanged flat
112 Angola 10.29 % 2025 unchanged volatile
113 Cyprus 10.05 % 2025 up 3.1% rising
114 Canada 9.75 % 2025 up 14.7% rising
115 Tajikistan 9.25 % 2025 unchanged flat
116 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 9.19 % 2025 unchanged flat
117 Brazil 9.14 % 2025 up 7.0% rising
117 Tunisia 9.14 % 2025 up 0.7% rising
119 Haiti 8.93 % 2025 up 3.4% flat
120 Togo 8.65 % 2025 unchanged flat
121 Trinidad and Tobago 8.47 % 2025 unchanged flat
122 Sweden 8.4 % 2025 up 10.8% rising
123 Gambia 8.2 % 2025 unchanged flat
124 Aruba 8.16 % 2025 unchanged flat
125 Algeria 7.72 % 2025 up 8.1% rising
126 Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba 7.6 % 2025 unchanged flat
127 Kyrgyzstan 7.45 % 2025 down 2.1% rising
128 Republic of Korea 7.18 % 2025 up 2.3% rising
129 Andorra 7.11 % 2025 unchanged flat
130 Mali 6.7 % 2025 unchanged flat
131 Lebanon 6.03 % 2025 up 0.5% flat
132 Guyana 5.92 % 2025 up 0.2% volatile
133 Yemen 5.83 % 2025 unchanged flat
134 Norway 5.81 % 2025 up 38.0% rising
135 Eritrea 5.48 % 2025 unchanged flat
136 Eswatini 5.13 % 2025 up 43.7% volatile
137 Brunei Darussalam 5 % 2025 unchanged flat
138 French Polynesia 4.95 % 2025 unchanged rising
139 Libya 4.89 % 2025 unchanged flat
140 Jordan 4.81 % 2025 unchanged flat
141 Morocco 4.58 % 2025 down 0.2% volatile
142 United Arab Emirates 4.24 % 2025 up 32.9% rising
143 Papua New Guinea 3.98 % 2025 unchanged flat
144 Bermuda 3.85 % 2025 unchanged flat
145 South Sudan 3.84 % 2025 unchanged flat
146 Afghanistan 3.81 % 2025 unchanged flat
147 Argentina 3.76 % 2025 up 19.0% rising
148 Qatar 3.57 % 2025 unchanged flat
149 Uruguay 3.04 % 2025 up 28.8% volatile
150 British Virgin Islands 3.01 % 2025 unchanged rising
151 Iceland 2.99 % 2025 up 160.0% volatile
152 Guam 1.73 % 2025 unchanged flat
153 Marshall Islands 1.49 % 2025 unchanged flat
154 Kuwait 1.31 % 2025 unchanged flat
155 Central African Republic 1.25 % 2025 unchanged flat
156 Maldives 0.81 % 2025 unchanged flat
157 Egypt 0.74 % 2025 unchanged flat
158 Somalia 0.59 % 2025 unchanged flat
159 Vanuatu 0.33 % 2025 unchanged flat
160 Mauritania 0.31 % 2025 unchanged rising
161 Anguilla 0.18 % 2025 unchanged flat
162 Northern Mariana Islands 0.12 % 2025 unchanged flat

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

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15.2.1 Proportion of forest area within legally established protected by country. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 02 October 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/15-2-1-proportion-of-forest-area-within-legally-established-protected-areas-value/

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About this data

Indicator
15.2.1 Proportion of forest area within legally established protected areas — Value
Unit
%
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
220 places, 1,307 data points, 1990–2025
Last refreshed

As the custodian agency of 22 SDG indicators, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is responsible for curating and refining the methodologies of these indicators, collecting data from national sources, ensuring their quality and compatibility with applicable standards and classifications, and disseminating data at global level. This FAOSTAT domain complements the global SDG database administered by the United Nations Statistical Division (UNSD), as well as FAO’s SDG indicators portal, by providing access to the available data for all SDG Indicators under FAO custodianship. While this metadata page provides summary information on all SDG indicators data disseminated through FAOSTAT, indicator-specific metadata can be accessed from the link on the right hand navigation column. This additional metadata file provides details on the methodology used to compile each indicators, their data sources and the contact information of the relevant FAO focal point. It includes the links to the official SDG Indicator metadata documents accessible from the UNSD global SDG database.SDG Indicators under FAO custodianship, consisting of 22 indicators and 66 series that fall under six goals: • Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.• Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.• Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.• Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production.• Goal 14: Life below water: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources.• Goal 15: Life on land: Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss.