Protected areas have become an essential instrument used to achieve long-term biodiversity conservation while simultaneously supporting local economies. By securing vital ecosystem services, promoting sustainable development and enabling climate change adaptation and mitigation, protected areas safeguard biodiversity and when connected, create important corridors for wildlife. Protected areas also provide opportunities for research, monitoring, environmental education and even recreation which can result in the diversification of local economies, providing new employment opportunities and sustainable livelihoods to communities. 

For more than 20 years WWF-Caucasus has been working on the development of a system of protected areas across the three countries of the South Caucasus, including the enlargement of areas under protection and the development of existing protected areas.