Nature park

A nature park or natural park is a landscape protected by means of long-term planning, use and agriculture. These valuable landscapes are preserved in their present state and promoted for tourism purposes.

In most countries nature parks are subject to legally regulated protection, which is part of their conservation laws.

A nature park is not the same as a national park, which is defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and its World Commission on Protected Areas as a category II type of protected area. Nor is it the same as a nature reserve which may fall into different IUCN categories depending on the level of legal protection afforded, but which is more strictly protected than a nature park. However some nature parks have later been turned into national parks.

The first international nature park in Europe, the present-day Pieniny National Park was founded jointly by Poland and Slovakia in 1932.

There are currently 47 nature parks in Austria with a total area of around 500,000 ha (as at April 2010). They are host to nearly 20 million visitors annually. The designation of "nature park" is awarded by the respective state governments. To achieve this award, the 4 pillars of a nature park have to be met: conservation, recreation, education and regional development.

In 1995 all the Austrian nature parks agreed to be represented by the Association of Austrian Nature Parks (Verband der Naturparke Österreichs) or VNÖ.

Currently there are nature parks in the following states:

In Belgium, there are two different structures. In Flanders, their name is Regionale Landschappen and in Wallonia, the Natural Parks. There are 17 Regionale Landschappen in Flanders and 9 Natural Parks in Wallonia.

In Croatia there is a total of eight national parks and eleven nature parks. Under nature park protection are the following regions:

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Wikipedia