National Park Idea

Let nature be nature

National parks protect landscapes in which nature develops according to its own rules. Wild plants and animals are offered retreats here. National parks are essential for the preservation of the biological diversity of our planet. Thus, national parks create unique spaces for experiencing nature and ensure necessary experiential spaces for environmental education and research.

About the origin of national parks

Ideally, national parks are established in areas that have never been altered by humankind, i.e. are true wilderness. In densely populated countries like Germany, however, humans have been using the soil and cultivating the land for thousands of years. Here, there are no more stretches of land that have remained untouched. Nevertheless, national parks are being established all over the world, also with the aim of letting nature be nature from now on. New wilderness is to develop here in the future. In Germany, the Bavarian Forest National Park was founded in 1970 as the first German national park. The youngest of the now 16 national parks is the Hunsrück-Hochwald National Park, founded in 2015. The oldest national park in the world is Yellowstone National Park in the USA, founded in 1872. It is about 28 times larger than the Müritz National Park.

Umbrella organization

NATIONALE NATURLANDSCHAFTEN e. V. is the umbrella organization of the German National Natural Landscapes. Since nature conservation in Germany is a matter for the federal states, but nature has no borders, there is a need for cross-state coordination. This task is performed by the organization NATIONALE NATURLANDSCHAFTEN e. V founded in 1991.