PARKS & BENEFITS assembles different large protected areas or parks. The partnership consists of one Biosphere Reserve, five National Parks, one Nature Park and one Regional Park. Each type or category of protected area has different objectives just as each protected area has different priorities which parts of flora, fauna or landscapes to protect and to which extent.

This variety is both a chance and a challenge for this project because common work plans must acknowledge a greater variety of individual situations. On the other hand it is a built in proof that results will not be restricted to one type of parks only.

• National Parks - the IUCN defines National parks as Category II protected areas. They are large natural or near natural areas set aside to protect large-scale ecological processes, along with the complement of species and ecosystems characteristic of the area, which also provide a foundation for environmentally and culturally compatible spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational and visitor opportunities. Their primary objective is to protect natural biodiversity along with its underlying ecological structure and supporting environmental processes, and to promote education and recreation.Other objectives are...

learn more about IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature

• Nature Parks and Regional Parks- The definition of these types of protected areas as well as the legal base for their protection status may vary from country to country. In several European countries, Nature Parks are established as large-scale nature reserves. Due to their central task of combining sustainable protection and use of cultural landscapes, Nature Parks are gaining in importance for the future. The biological diversity of European cultural landscapes can only be permanently secured through a sustainable use. Nature Parks in Europe make an important contribute to save biological diversity in cultural landscapes.

learn more about European protected areas

• Biosphere reserves are sites recognized under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme, which innovate and demonstrate approaches to conservation and sustainable development. They are of course under national sovereign jurisdiction, yet share their experience and ideas nationally, regionally and internationally within the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. There are 553 sites worldwide in 107 countries.

learn more about Biosphere Reserves and the MAB Programme