Conservation of biodiversity within protected areas has received considerable attention in Saudi Arabia. The National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development and the Ministry of Agriculture are the organisations having the primary responsibility for establishing and managing conservation areas. Together, the area under management for the sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity in Saudi Arabia accounts for almost 10% of the land surface of the Kingdom. In addition, coastal and marine protected areas have been identified and a number in the Red Sea and the Gulf have been proclaimed.

NCWCD developed a comprehensive Protected Area System Plan in which 103 areas that are significant for conserving various elements of biodiversity are identified on the basis of rigorously applied, scientifically based, criteria. To date, 15 protected areas, covering almost 4% of the country's surface (an area twice the size of Switzerland) conserve all the major physiographic regions, half the country's biotopes, key wetlands, marine and mountain habitats and protect viable populations of endemic, endangered and key plant and animal species. These are managed with close collaboration of local communities through liaison committees. The system plan provides a scientific foundation for rational expansion of the protected area network to ultimately conserve Arabian biotopes, key habitats and species.

Areas managed by NCWCD
The following table presents key features of the areas administered by the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development.

Arabian oryx now roam the Empty Quarter in large numbers, Sand and Mountain Gazelles and Houbara bustards have been re-established and mangrove forests restored, which represent concrete and successful efforts of environmental restoration in the Kingdom.

Endemic plant species occur in two of the protected areas. Raydah, one of the smallest areas, covering only 9 km2 of the south-western mountains with 22 endemics tops the list, followed by the Farasan Islands with 17 species. This means that 39 species (15.9%) of endemic plants are within areas that receive formal protection and that are managed primarily for the conservation of biodiversity.

Species richness data are available for 13 of the NCWCD protected areas and monitoring of species composition and abundance has been carried on in the protected area at the King Khalid Wildlife Research Centre near Riyadh since 1990. Five of the protected areas each have more than 10% of the species recorded from Saudi Arabia within their borders. In total, the protected areas already established contain about 43% of the recorded plants of Saudi Arabia.