The present work. Protected Areas of the world: A review of national systems, is the first attempt by WCMC to compile a world-wide survey of protected area systems. The book is organised into national (or occasionally sub-national) accounts, each comprising a description of the national protected areas system, accompanied by a summary list and map of protected areas. The book is divided into four volumes, with volume one covering the Indomalayan, Oceanian, Australian and Antarctic realms, volume two the Palaearctic realm, volume three the Afrotropical reahn, and volume four the Nearctic and Neotropical realms. The first three volumes were released at the World Congress on National Parks and Protected Areas, held at Caracas during February 1992, whilst the fourth volume was presented as a draft. This enabled WCMC staff, who attended the Congress, to obtain comments, corrections and additions from the numerous experts from the Neotropic and Nearctic regions who were present in Caracas. This volume therefore, drawing on this new source of information, completes the series. Publication of such a book serves two purposes. First, it provided extensive background information on the protected area systems of the world, relevant to several plenary sessions and workshops at the IV World Congress on National Parks and Protected Areas. In particular, it was a contribution to the third plenary session The Contributions of Protected Areas to Sustaining Society: A Global Review. Secondly, and perhaps more significantly, it is also part of the process of information collection and verification. Feedback from protected areas professionals, and others familiar with protected areas, is therefore both welcomed and encouraged, because only by a continual process of review and update can we present a true picture.