Burundi has 16 protected areas divided into 4 IUCN categories: National Parks, Natural Reserves, Natural Monuments and Protected Landscapes and in other special protection areas, totaling about 40,146 ha, or 5.1% of the country's total.

Protected areas are multi-ecosystem. However, considering the current areas of large ecosystems, it appears that several of them are very poorly represented in the system of protected areas: swamps, aquatic environments, open forests. On the other hand, mountain rain forests, the Hyphaene sclerophyll forest and the Kigwena mesophilic forest are well represented in protected areas. Eastern savannas are represented in protected areas, but the altimontane grasslands do not benefit from any protection measures.