Virtually all countries have seen the wisdom of protecting areas of outstanding importance to society and such sites now cover more than 5 percent of the earth's land surface. However, many of these protected areas exist only on paper, not on the ground. In a period of growing demands on resources and shrinking government budgets, new approaches are required to ensure that protected areas can continue to make their contributions to society. This will involve integrating protected areas into larger planning frameworks, expanding support for protected areas, strengthening capacities to manage protected areas and expanding international cooperation.