Required. The proposed protected area:

1. Must be within the Tropics or Subtropics.
2. Contains areas of High Integrity Forest as defined by Grantham et al. 2020 and available for viewing and downloading at the Forest Landscape Integrity Index. Marine Protected Areas, deserts, and other non-forest ecosystems will not be considered under the Intact Landscape criteria.

Recommended. It is best if the proposed protected area:

1. Is 1 million acres or larger. Smaller areas will be considered if applicants can demonstrate the proposed protected area is of high conservation value (e.g. also provides substantial benefit to one or more CR/EN species).
2. Connects to an existing KBA or WDPA.