One third of the world's protected areas are under "intense human pressure," warned the report. "Most nations are doing the first step, and gazetting protected areas but not doing the harder, and more important, second step of funding the management of those protected areas and ensuring they were secured against large-scale human interference," he said. Protected areas are seen as a critical solution to the biodiversity crisis facing the planet, by allowing safe havens for birds, mammals, and marine life to thrive. The amount of lands set aside globally as protected areas has doubled since 1992. "More than 90 percent of protected areas, such as national parks and nature reserves, showed some signs of damaging human activities."

Source: Bangkok Post May 17, 2018 18:11 UTC