DURBAN, South Africa – More than 11 percent of the world’s land surface is included in conservation areas, surpassing goals set a decade ago, but oceans remain at risk and even protected land areas face growing threats from climate change and stubborn poverty.
The amount of government-protected land worldwide has ballooned from 3.5 percent in the early 1980s to more than 11 percent now, ahead of the goal of 10 percent by this year’s meeting. Protected areas worldwide cover an area larger than the United States and China combined.
But the world’s oceans, lakes and rivers remain largely unprotected. Less than 1 percent of the planet’s oceans are protected in reserves, and at least 60 to 70 percent of fisheries are over-fished or at capacity, a threat not only to biological diversity but also to food supplies worldwide, conservationists said.

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