Author Stolton, S. & Dudley, N.

Year of publication 2009

Protected areas of one sort or another cover about 10 per cent of the world’s land surface; the large majority were established in the second part of the twentieth century. Although most were originally set up to protect landscape values, wildlife or more recently biodiversity, they are increasingly expected in addition to provide wider benefits to human society. The PA-BAT aims to help collate information on the full range of current and potential benefits of individual protected areas. It is a contributory methodology for the overall Arguments for Protection series, but is also hopefully a stand-alone tool that will be of wider use to the protected areas community. Although developed primarily for use in protected areas, the tool could have wider application, for example in assessing wider benefits of forest management units, agricultural landscapes or areas set aside for recreation. The main audience for this report is protected area managers and authorities, but it should also be useful for anyone interested in finding out about the range of benefits that protected areas provide.