**2. Protected landscapes: History and international context**

Protection of landscapes is not a recent invention. One of the historical landmarks was the designation of the first National Parks in the United States, Yosemite (1864) and Yellowstone (1872), aiming at the safeguarding of 'undisturbed' or 'primeval' nature (Runte, 1997). During the first decades of the twentieth century, a number of European countries followed, with Sweden, Switzerland, Spain and Italy in the front line (Hamin, 2002; Besio, 2003). Although the emphasis was on ecosystems that were seen as almost completely natural, gradually it became clear that all of them were in fact partly man-made landscapes. And even when very little human influence was recognizable, the national park designation itself defined these areas within the domain of human society (Mells, 1999). Therefore, the distinction between 'nature' and 'culture' became less strict. From the 1930s onwards a distinction developed between reserves that were protected mainly for their ecological values and a new group of old 'traditional' agrarian landscapes.

The densely populated character and the existence of little wilderness areas have, in contrast to North America, contributed to the fact that cultural landscapes have become an important management category in Europe (see Table 1). Conservation effort in most European countries has therefore focused upon agrarian, lived-in, working landscapes. These landscapes depend on human intervention. Since the European landscape is extraordinarily varied and rich in both natural and cultural interest, designation systems have been developed in order to protect the most beautiful and vulnerable parts. These protected landscapes, focused on the conservation of the specific uniqueness of cultural landscapes, lie at the heart of the identity of rural Europe and potentially enrich the cultural and natural diversity of both people and places (Pedroli et al., 2007).


Table 1. Two types of Park Model

Against this background it is not strange to note that the European experience with protected landscapes is varied. Each country has taken a different course according to its geographic and historical characteristics, social structure, political organization and planning culture. As a result European protected landscapes show many differences, in the types and number of designated areas they have established, their legal structures, tasks, as well as in their proportion related to the countries surface. However, certain common characteristics can be identified. It almost always involves (rural) landscapes that are important for their traditional and less intensive land-use. In most cases these landscapes are inhabited by private land-owners (mostly farmers) with some small federal or state holdings and co-managed by public and private parties. Authority, responsibility and accountability for managing the protected landscape are shared in various ways among a

the final section, some preliminary conclusions are drawn, and some remarks are given on

Protection of landscapes is not a recent invention. One of the historical landmarks was the designation of the first National Parks in the United States, Yosemite (1864) and Yellowstone (1872), aiming at the safeguarding of 'undisturbed' or 'primeval' nature (Runte, 1997). During the first decades of the twentieth century, a number of European countries followed, with Sweden, Switzerland, Spain and Italy in the front line (Hamin, 2002; Besio, 2003). Although the emphasis was on ecosystems that were seen as almost completely natural, gradually it became clear that all of them were in fact partly man-made landscapes. And even when very little human influence was recognizable, the national park designation itself defined these areas within the domain of human society (Mells, 1999). Therefore, the distinction between 'nature' and 'culture' became less strict. From the 1930s onwards a distinction developed between reserves that were protected mainly for their ecological

The densely populated character and the existence of little wilderness areas have, in contrast to North America, contributed to the fact that cultural landscapes have become an important management category in Europe (see Table 1). Conservation effort in most European countries has therefore focused upon agrarian, lived-in, working landscapes. These landscapes depend on human intervention. Since the European landscape is extraordinarily varied and rich in both natural and cultural interest, designation systems have been developed in order to protect the most beautiful and vulnerable parts. These protected landscapes, focused on the conservation of the specific uniqueness of cultural landscapes, lie at the heart of the identity of rural Europe and potentially enrich the cultural and natural

**United States Europe** 

*Conservation of…* Wild, 'untamed' nature Rural, lived-in landscapes *Status* Reserve Protected landscape

*Type of area* Unoccupied Inhabited

*Ownership* Public (state-owned) Co-managed (Public-Private)

Against this background it is not strange to note that the European experience with protected landscapes is varied. Each country has taken a different course according to its geographic and historical characteristics, social structure, political organization and planning culture. As a result European protected landscapes show many differences, in the types and number of designated areas they have established, their legal structures, tasks, as well as in their proportion related to the countries surface. However, certain common characteristics can be identified. It almost always involves (rural) landscapes that are important for their traditional and less intensive land-use. In most cases these landscapes are inhabited by private land-owners (mostly farmers) with some small federal or state holdings and co-managed by public and private parties. Authority, responsibility and accountability for managing the protected landscape are shared in various ways among a

the future of protected landscapes in Western Europe in a governance context.

**2. Protected landscapes: History and international context** 

values and a new group of old 'traditional' agrarian landscapes.

diversity of both people and places (Pedroli et al., 2007).

Table 1. Two types of Park Model

variety of actors like government agencies, local communities, non-governmental organizations (particularly environmental groups) or private landowners.

Although the officially designated landscapes in Western Europe are often called national or regional parks they are, according to international guidelines by IUCN (World Conservation Union/International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) defined as Category V protected areas. IUCN (1994) defines protected landscapes (Category V) as "areas of land, with coast or sea as appropriate, where the interaction of people and nature over time has produced an area of distinct character with significant aesthetic, ecological and/or cultural value, and often with high biological diversity". Category V areas represent only some 9% of protected areas globally (6% by area). But in Europe, the UNEP-WCMC database records that some 46% of the total area under protection is in Category V (Chape et al, 2003).

The disparity of landscapes that fall into Category V is substantial. The classifications according to national law include, for instance, *Parco Naturale Regionale* (Italy), *Parc Naturel Régionaux* (France), *Naturpark* (Austria and Germany), and *National Park* (Britain). Recently, so-called *Geoparks* have been established in different European countries, with the specific objective to protect geological heritage.2 The perspectives of geological heritage conservation of Geoparks are positioned within the frame of the wider and more complex strategy of conservation of the natural and historical-cultural heritage that the territory presents, acting through efficient management measures able to couple strategies of active protection with actions aiming at the enhancement and the social-economical development, including geotourism. Both Nature and Geoparks are a specific type of category V areas. They are protected landscape areas, which have developed trough the interaction of man with nature.

Unlike the term 'nature' suggests, 'nature parks' are not managed for nature and biodiversity purposes but for landscape conservation and recreation. Recreation and amenity oriented purposes, but also culture and rural development, therefore, are mostly dominant over the pursuit of nature conservation. Currently nature parks get worldwide attention under the IUCN protected areas category V (see Table 2). They experience attention due to their increasing attractiveness as areas of leisure and valuable habitats as well as their less strict guidelines and planning objectives. Due to their central task to connect protection and the use of cultural landscapes lastingly they are gaining significance for the future. Only on the basis of continued use the cultural and geological heritage landscapes in Europe and their large biodiversity can be secured in the long term (Schenk; Hunziker & Kienast, 2007; Panizza, 2001; Farsani, 2011).
