This chapter analyses the geographical distribution and ecological significance of protected areas, emphasising their role in biodiversity conservation and the socio-economic relationships they sustain with indigenous and rural communities. The data analysed in this chapter facilitate dimensioning the importance of natural protected areas under the concept of “strategic territories” for environmental conservation, but also for illegal activities that occur in a specific time and space and that facilitate the permanence and consolidation of criminal groups due to their geographic location, orographic characteristics, and natural and ecosystemic richness. All these factors make protected areas coveted territories by criminal groups, as well as the development of conservation activities implemented by government institutions and social participation.