August 2015

The survey on the organisation and fields of work of European Nature, Regional and Landscape Parks was launched by VDN in May and June 2015. In total, park associations and assigned administrations of 24 European countries joined the project by taking part in the survey.

By giving information on the work and management of their parks, the participating associations and administrative bodies laid the foundation for an improved cross border knowledge exchange and a better understanding of the value of Nature, Regional and Landscape Parks at European level.

In total, there are almost 900 Nature, Regional and Landscape Parks in Europe, covering a surface of more than 390,000 km² and playing a vital role in nature conservation, environmental education, nature oriented recreation and the sustainable development of rural areas. Here the parks work closely together with municipalities, foresters, farmers and landowners and involve local communities in the parks’ development.

In 2016 the VDN will make study tours to selected European countries to get more detailed information and examples. The next project steps will be discussed in the coming meeting of the project working group, which will take place in November this year.