Since 1999, on May 24, we have been celebrating the
European Day of Parks
This is an initiative of the EUROPARC Federation, a pan-European organization that brings together different institutions dedicated to nature conservation and protected natural areas in 38 countries around the world. This date commemorates the anniversary of the declaration, in 1909, of the first European national parks in Sweden.

The Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) defines a National Park as a natural area of high natural and cultural value, little altered by human activity, which, due to its exceptional natural values, its representative character and the uniqueness of its flora, fauna or geomorphological formations, deserves preferential attention in its conservation and is declared of general interest for being representative of the natural heritage of Spain.

In addition to all of the above, these areas must meet certain characteristics in order to be declared National Parks. Among them, they must be large enough to allow for natural evolution and ecological processes, have territorial continuity, not include inhabited urban centers within them, except in duly justified exceptional cases, and be surrounded by a territory that could be declared a peripheral protection zone.

Consequently, it is a protection figure that entails a special legal regime with the aim of ensuring its conservation, as the first basic objective. The second objective has to do with making conservation compatible with the use and enjoyment of the natural values of the parks by the public. Finally, these spaces are at the service of research, so they pursue the increase and generation of scientific knowledge.

National Parks, therefore, can act as an engine for the economic development of the territories in which they are located, offering a different use offer consistent with a model of quality of life in line with the preservation of nature.

In 2023, under the slogan “Building on our roots“EUROPARC Federation intends to commemorate its 50th anniversary celebration, and to raise awareness of the responsibility we have to conserve this natural heritage and cultural heritage for future generations, as well as discovering how we can contribute to the conservation of these natural spaces.

In 1916, Spain passed the first National Parks Law, becoming one of the pioneering countries in Europe in the protection of nature. Our country has a Network of National Parks that encompasses these areas, which are internationally recognized for their state of conservation, planning and integrated management of their natural resources. Consequently, it is the most powerful protection figure for natural areas in Spain. We currently have
16 National Parks declared in 12 autonomous
in 12 autonomous communities and with a surface area of 488,678 hectares.

The Biodiversity Foundation has contributed to the protection and conservation of these areas, supporting nearly 80 initiatives through different calls for grants, as well as projects within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), financed by the European Union – NextGenerationEU, with an endowment of more than 6 million euros.

Thus, through the Next GenerationEU funds, two initiatives corresponding to the call for the promotion of the bioeconomy and the ecological transition 2021 are supported, which include actions in National Parks.

This is the case of Ganadería Pro-Biodiversidad, which carries out part of its activities in the Picos de Europa National Park and the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park. Its objective is to promote profitable and sustainable extensive livestock farming, using scientific-technical knowledge and innovation, favoring its continuity and the maintenance of the social, economic and environmental benefits it provides in rural areas.

For its part, Pastoral Nature includes actions in the Monfragüe National Park and seeks to promote pastoralism as a viable and necessary activity for economic recovery, biodiversity conservation and mitigation and adaptation to climate change in the current context of demographic challenge.