The designation of protected areas in Europe has been effective in reducing, but not completely preventing, land cover changes associated with human activity, according to a study published July 17 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Niels Hellwig of Potsdam University and Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences in Germany, and colleagues. Approximately 1.5% of all protected areas and 3% of all surrounding buffer zones were affected by land cover change from 2000 to 2012.