Protected areas and freshwater provisioning: a global assessment of freshwater provision, threats and management strategies to support human water security

Abstract Protected areas, although often terrestrially focused and less frequently designed to protect freshwater resources, can be extremely important for conserving freshwater biodiversity and supporting human water security necessary for people to survive and thrive. This study measured the quantity of water that is being provided by protected areas to areas downstream, and how threatened protected areas are in terms of their water provision. Building on a Freshwater Provision Index, the numbers of people who live downstream from these protected areas around the world were then assessed. The same process was applied to areas where there are no protected areas. Protected areas deliver 20% of the global total of approximately 40 000 km 3 year −1 of continental runoff. More…