Brazil set aside more land in protected areas than any other country during the 2000s, accounting for nearly 60 percent of total terrestrial conservation during the decade, according to mongabay.com’s analysis of data from the U.N Environment Program and the World Conservation Monitoring Center.
Between 2000 and 2008 (the most recent year for which data is available) Brazil established 869,360 square kilometers in new protected areas, an increase of 53 percent over 2000. Second on the list was Australia (125,128 sq km), followed by China (114,913 sq km), Peru (75,049 sq km), and Democratic Republic of Congo (44,833).
In terms of relative gain among countries with more than 5,000 sq km set aside for conservation, Gabon’s extent of protected land increased by nearly 200 percent from 15,209 sq km in 2000 to 44270 sq km, far ahead of Peru (73 percent), Myanmar (59 percent), and Brazil (53 percent).
 
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Brazil now has the largest area of protected land (2.52 million sq km), according to the UNEP-WCMC data. It is followed by Russia (1.54 million sq km), China (1.45 million sq km), and United States (1.36 million sq km) and Greenland (864,306).
In terms of proportion of land mass under protection, at least on paper, Venezuela lists 71 percent, followed by Germany (56 percent), Estonia (47 percent), Belize (45 percent), and Zambia (41 percent).
Forest loss
Paradoxically, Brazil also lost the most forest of any country during the decade. 175,000 sq km of Amazon rainforest in Brazil was cleared in the 2000s, while an even larger area of cerrado, Brazil’s woody grassland, was lost. At least 3,000 sq km of Mata Atlantica (Atlantic Forest), Brazil’s most endangered rainforest, was also destroyed.
Deforestation rates for other countries won’t be finalized until next year but it is likely that among tropical countries, Indonesia, Myanmar, DR Congo, Tanzania, Peru, Zambia, Sudan, and Nigeria would follow Brazil in terms of forest loss.
Brazil is aiming to shed its deforestation crown next decade under its plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, more than 60 percent of which result from deforestation. Brazil’s targets call for roughly a 70 percent cut in deforestation rates by 2017 through increased law enforcement, paying locals to keep trees standing, providing incentives for business to be more environmentally-responsible, and establishing new protected areas. More than half the Brazilian Amazon — some 1.82 million sq km — is already under some form of protection
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TABLES
Percent land area under protection on paper, 2008
Excludes small countries
| Country | percent | |
| Venezuela | 71.3% | |
| Germany | 56.2% | |
| Estonia | 46.7% | |
| Belize | 44.5% | |
| Zambia | 41.1% | |
| Greenland | 39.9% | |
| Tanzania | 39.1% | |
| Saudi Arabia | 38.4% | |
| Israel | 34.6% | |
| Guatemala | 32.7% | |
| Costa Rica | 31.0% | |
| Botswana | 30.1% | |
| Bhutan | 30.1% | |
| New Zealand | 29.8% | |
| Brazil | 29.6% | |
| Switzerland | 28.6% | |
| Dominican Republic | 28.5% | |
| Panama | 28.1% | |
| Austria | 28.0% | |
| Colombia | 26.2% |
Increase in protected land area, 2000-2008
| Country | sq km | |
| Brazil | 869360 | |
| Australia | 125128 | |
| China | 114913 | |
| Peru | 75049 | |
| DR Congo | 44833 | |
| Gabon | 29061 | |
| Germany | 21083 | |
| Iran | 20778 | |
| Myanmar | 16695 | |
| Egypt | 16169 | |
| Mexico | 15392 | |
| Canada | 15259 | |
| Indonesia | 11939 | |
| Tanzania | 10624 | |
| France | 8562 | |
| Mozambique | 7340 | |
| Cameroon | 7334 | |
| Romania | 7063 | |
| Paraguay | 6407 | |
| Congo | 4740 |
Total protected land area, 2008
| Country | sq km | |
| Brazil | 2524089 | |
| Russia | 1543566 | |
| China | 1452693 | |
| United States | 1358345 | |
| Greenland | 864306 | |
| Saudi Arabia | 824494 | |
| Canada | 820860 | |
| Australia | 808972 | |
| Venezuela | 650743 | |
| Tanzania | 370523 | |
| Zambia | 309052 | |
| Indonesia | 299925 | |
| Colombia | 298441 | |
| DR Congo | 273387 | |
| Bolivia | 232988 | |
| Mongolia | 217912 | |
| Germany | 200611 | |
| Ethiopia | 193671 | |
| Argentina | 180286 | |
| Peru | 177253 |
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