SDG 14.5.1 Average proportion of Marine Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) covered by protected areas

This dataset reports the mean percentage of the area of each marine Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) in Qatar that spatially overlaps with designated protected areas and, where available in the current series, Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs). KBAs are sites contributing significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity; a KBA is classified as marine when at least 5 per cent of its area overlaps the sea. The protected share is calculated separately for each marine KBA from digital boundary overlaps and then averaged across all marine KBAs in the country. The value is therefore not the percentage of Qatar's entire marine area that is protected. Higher values indicate greater coverage of sites important for marine biodiversity. The indicator does not measure protected-area management effectiveness or actual conservation outcomes.