PARC: Protected Area Representativeness Index: 30s global time series

Brief description

CSIRO Protected Area Representativeness Index (PARC: Representativeness) is a global 30 arc-second product for 1970,1980,1990,2000,2005,2010,2015, 2020, and 2024. The Protected Area Representativeness and Connectedness (PARC) indices measure the extent to which terrestrial protected areas, and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs), are ecologically representative, and well-connected (both to one another, and to other areas of intact natural ecosystems in the surrounding landscape). For the purposes of reporting against the 2010-2020 Aichi Targets, the PARC was originally configured as two separate indicators: the Protected Area Representativeness Index (or ‘PARC-representativeness’) and the Protected Area Connectedness Index (or ‘PARC-connectedness’). However, these two indices were always designed in a manner which would allow them to be logically combined to yield a composite indicator of the extent to which a system of protected areas and OECMs is both ecologically representative and well-connected.

The PARC indices, whether generated separately or as a composite, are used to monitor and report past-to-present trends in representativeness and connectedness by repeated calculation using best-available mapping of protected areas and OECMs at multiple points in time, e.g. for different years. They can also provide a foundation for assessing the contribution that potential additions to the system of protected areas and OECMs might make to improving present PARC scores, thereby providing a foundation for prioritising such actions.

The PARC indices time series from 1970-2020 can be viewed on the UN Biodiversity Lab web map via the link in the Related Links section below.
Lineage: The PARC Representativeness indicator is calculated using the CSIRO BILBI biodiversity modelling infrastructure. BILBI is based on a global 30s grid, with environmental data comprising terrain adjusted www.WorldClim.org (v1) climate data and soil data from www.SoilGrids.org (v1). This was combined with www.GBIF.org (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) data to generate spatial biodiversity models (using Generalised Dissimilarity Modelling) for each WWF biome/realm combination. Protected areas have been extracted from the World Database on Protected Areas (www.iucn.org/theme/protected-areas/our-work/world-database-protected-areas).