Cardil A. auteur aut IRD Rodrigues M. auteur aut IRD Ascoli D. auteur aut IRD Ortega M. auteur aut IRD Quiñones T. auteur aut IRD Erdozain M. auteur aut IRD Menor I. O. auteur aut IRD Spadoni G. L. auteur aut IRD Ramírez J. auteur aut IRD Molina J. R. auteur aut IRD Mouillot Florent auteur aut IRD Silva C. A. auteur aut IRD Mohan M. auteur aut IRD Martínez-Bentué C. auteur aut IRD de-Miguel S. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf reformatted digital access Protected areas (PAs) aim to support global conservation efforts including the maintenance of fire regimes and mitigation of negative fire impacts. Analyzing data from over 20 million fires worldwide, we found that PAs, along with the various protection levels defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), significantly influenced burned area (BA) and fire regime attributes across continents and biomes in distinct ways, with varying impacts on fire size, spread, intensity, and duration. In most biomes, the proportion of BA within PAs was smaller than the proportion of PA itself, indicating that PAs were generally less impacted by wildfires. However, in tropical grasslands, tropical dry broadleaf forests and temperate conifer forests, the BA fraction inside PAs was larger. The strictest IUCN protection categories (Ia and Ib) were associated with the lowest BA, compared to National Parks (IUCN II) and other less restrictive protection categories. However, this pattern varied by biome, with mediterranean forests, temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, temperate grasslands and tropical coniferous forests showing increased fire proneness in the strictest IUCN categories and more intense fires. Insights from this research can guide targeted environmental policies to strengthen PA networks to maintain fire regimes. specialized Wildfires Protected areas Fire behavior Vegetation types Biomes Earth Fire and environmental management MONDE 082 021 398 128285 [12 p.] 2026 0301-4797 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010096059 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.128285 0301-4797 [F B010096059] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010096059 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/2026-02/010096059.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2026-02-04 2026-02-04 fdi:010096059 fre