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25 Year Environment Plan Outcome Indicator K4: 2023 update on the extent of Protected Areas in the UK Overseas Territories 2024

Abstract

The 25 Year Environment Plan (Defra 2018) and its 2023 update, the Environmental Improvement Plan (Defra 2023), outline the UK Government’s aspirations to help our environment “regain and retain good health”. Accompanying the plan is a comprehensive set of 66 indicators – the Outcome Indicator Framework – which show how the environment is changing and whether our interventions are effective (Defra 2019). Four of these indicators relate to Defra’s international ambitions to reduce the UK’s global footprint and support overseas countries to protect and improve the environment.

The UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs) support a highly diverse range of terrestrial and marine species, habitats and ecosystems. Protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures are key tools for conserving this biodiversity, much of which is endemic and globally threatened. 25 Year Environment Plan Outcome Indicator K4 measures the extent and condition of terrestrial and marine protected areas in the UKOTs.

While work to progress the protected area condition aspect of this indicator is ongoing, JNCC has calculated the combined extent of UKOT protected areas since 2020. This report (JNCC Report 760) presents a third update, including protected areas and OECMs established to the end of 2023, and provides technical information to accompany interim indicator K4 on the Outcome Indicator Framework dashboard. The results for 2020, 2021 and 2022 were presented in JNCC reports 679, 704, and 735 respectively, available from The National Archives.

Aggregated and Territory-level statistics are also published on a dedicated JNCC webpage and available to download in the Excel spreadsheet, accompanying this report.

These resources may not be fully accessible for all users. If you need copies in a different or more accessible format, please contact Communications@jncc.gov.uk.

Resource type Publication

Topic category Environment

Reference date 2024·05·01

Citation
Wright, H.L. 2024. 25 Year Environment Plan Outcome Indicator K4: 2023 update on the extent of Protected Areas in the UK Overseas Territories. JNCC Report 760, JNCC, Peterborough, ISSN 0963-8091.

Lineage
This report presents the extent of protected areas in the UK Overseas Territories up to the end of 2023, as part of 25 Year Environment Plan Outcome Indicator K4. Previous reports presented the extent of protected areas in 2020 (JNCC Report 679), 2021 (JNCC Report 704) and 2022 (JNCC Report 735).

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