Wilderness Protected Areas

Global management guidelines published for wilderness protected areas

The IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas, in tandem with the Wild Foundation, published in 2016 a comprehensive set of guidelines governing all key aspects of management for wilderness areas.

These are applied under all forms of governance – public, private, local community. They also address a range of management instruments, including rewilding and restoration.

A range of case studies are examined, including the Natura 2000 network (Page 38 Case Study 11 provided by Wild Europe), where EC guidelines for management of wilderness areas are based on our definition of wilderness. 

Some 2.5% of the EU land area (then including the UK) is protected for its wilderness attributes within the Natura 2000 network, although the proportion covered by wilderness as defined by the minimum scale in Wild Europe’s definition is nearer 2%.

Read more: Wilderness protected area management guidelines