National park

A national park is a protected area of land—natural, semi-natural, or developed—owned by a government and set aside for conservation due to its outstanding national natural, historic, or cultural value. While countries vary in their official standards for designating such parks, a shared goal worldwide is preserving wild nature for future generations and as a source of national pride. These parks are nearly always open to the public. Typically, national governments develop, own, and manage them, but in federal or devolved systems, regional or local authorities may take on that responsibility.

The world’s first and oldest national park is widely considered to be Yellowstone National Park, established in the United States in 1872 as a “public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people,” though it was not officially called a “national park” at the time. Older legally protected areas exist, such as the Tobago Main Ridge Forest Reserve (established in 1776 in what is now Trinidad and Tobago) and the area around Bogd Khan Uul Mountain in Mongolia (1778), both restricted from cultivation to protect farmland. The oldest national park service is Parks Canada, founded on May 19, 1911.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and its World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) define “National Park” as a Category II protected area. In 2006, the IUCN identified 6,555 national parks worldwide that met its criteria, though the organization continues to discuss the precise parameters of the definition. The largest national park meeting the IUCN definition is Northeast Greenland National Park, established in 1974, covering 972,000 square kilometers (375,000 square miles).

In 1969, the IUCN declared that a national park must be a relatively large area with three defining characteristics: it contains one or more ecosystems not significantly altered by human use, where species, habitats, and landscapes have scientific, educational, or recreational value; the country’s highest authority has taken steps to prevent or eliminate exploitation and to enforce protection of its ecological and aesthetic features; and visitors are allowed entry under special conditions for inspiration, education, culture, and recreation. In 1971, these criteria were expanded: a national park should have a minimum size of 1,000 hectares in zones where nature protection takes priority, statutory legal protection, sufficient budget and staff for effective protection, and a prohibition on exploiting natural resources (including dam development), though activities like sport hunting, fishing, and management facilities may be qualified.

Despite the IUCN definition, many protected areas called “national parks” in various countries fall under other IUCN categories. Examples include Switzerland’s Swiss National Park (IUCN Ia – Strict Nature Reserve), the United States’ Everglades National Park (IUCN Ib – Wilderness Area), Finland’s Koli National Park (IUCN II – Surface Area), Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls National Park (IUCN III – National Monument), Bulgaria’s Vitosha National Park (IUCN IV – Habitat Management Area), the United Kingdom’s New Forest National Park (IUCN V – Protected Landscape), and Greece’s Etniko Ygrotopiko Parko Delta Evrou (IUCN VI – Managed Resource Protected Area). While national parks are generally understood to be administered by national governments, in Australia most are run by state governments and predate the federation; similarly, in the Netherlands, provinces administer them. In Canada, both federal national parks and provincial or territorial parks exist, though nearly all meet the IUCN definition. In many countries—including Indonesia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom—areas called national parks do not adhere to the IUCN definition, while some areas that do meet the definition are not designated as national parks.

Because many countries do not follow the IUCN definition, the term “national park” is used loosely. In the United Kingdom and Taiwan, for example, it simply describes a relatively undeveloped, scenic area that attracts tourists, with planning restrictions to maintain those qualities, and may include substantial human settlements. Conversely, parks that meet the IUCN criteria may be called “preserve” or “reserve” instead.

Historically, the Naples government began protecting natural areas in 1735, with Procida as the first site, intended as a royal game reserve but considered closer to a modern park because it already divided areas into wilderness and non-strict nature reserves. In 1810, English poet William Wordsworth described the Lake District in a way that influenced later park concepts.