Since 1999, on May 24 of each year we celebrate the European Day of Parks at the initiative of the EUROPARC Federation, a pan-European organization that brings together different institutions dedicated to the conservation of nature and protected natural areas from 38 countries around the world. This event commemorates the anniversary of the declaration of the first European national parks in Sweden, in 1909.

The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) establishes that a National Park is a natural space of high natural and cultural value, little altered by human activity which, given its exceptional natural values, its representative character and the uniqueness of its flora, fauna or geomorphological formations, deserves preferential attention and is declared of general interest as it is representative of the Spanish Natural Heritage . Likewise, for a natural area to be declared a National Park, in addition to taking into account all of the above, it must have a large and sufficient surface area to allow natural evolution and ecological processes, territorial continuity, not have generically inhabited nuclei within it and be surrounded by a territory susceptible to being declared a peripheral protection zone.

To highlight these natural spaces, this year the EUROPARC Federation on European Parks Day, under the slogan “We are nature. Rethinking, restoring and reconnecting”, aims to highlight the relationship of human beings with their environment, of which they are also a part. The theme for 2022 highlights the importance of nature for mental and physical health, for food production and for air quality, and underlines the need to address the loss of natural areas.

Spain approved the first National Parks Law in 1916. 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. In addition, the number of declared spaces could increase to 17 with the inclusion of the El Hierro marine park, currently in process.

Since its inception, the MITECO Biodiversity Foundation has contributed, directly or indirectly, to the protection of natural spaces, and in particular has supported initiatives with the aim of improving the state of conservation of National Parks and their biodiversity. Thus, projects have been promoted for the development of conservation and restoration actions of habitats and natural ecosystems and wild species, with special attention to those included in the Spanish Catalogue of Endangered Species. Actions have also been promoted to promote coherence and positive synergies between biodiversity conservation policies and those related to the mitigation of the effects of climate change. Likewise, actions have been promoted to carry out inventory and monitoring work on species of flora and fauna present in these natural spaces. Actions have also been supported that have promoted awareness and participation in society for the conservation of biodiversity and, ultimately, to promote its sustainable management and use.

In this way, the Biodiversity Foundation has supported more than 70 projects related to these natural spaces of great ecological value through calls for grants, to which almost 4 million euros have been allocated. Currently, eight of these projects are under implementation.

Thus, the Brown Bear Foundation is developing an initiative in order to establish an early warning system to detect conservation problems of the brown bear caused by leisure and sports activities in different natural landscapes, including the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park in Catalonia. The project aims to detect, characterise and mitigate the threats of this species, classified as “endangered” and considered a “priority species” in the Habitats Directive. It also seeks to address these threats present in its habitat, the most important breeding nucleus of the central subpopulation of the Pyrenees in Catalonia and other subpopulations in the Cantabrian Mountains.

For its part, the Cambera Network Association is developing the “CoCrea Picos” initiative, whose objective is to communicate, disseminate and promote social participation on the state of conservation of the Picos de Europa National Park and its Natura 2000 Network environment. The actions are focusing on promoting the sustainability of productive, educational, cultural and tourism activities to minimise their effects on aquatic ecosystems and improve their conservation status.

Likewise, the Fernando González Bernáldez Foundation (FUNGOBE) works on the analysis of the current state of protected areas in Spain with the purpose of providing relevant cases that show the contribution of these areas in the fight against climate change and its benefits for human health. In addition, the project will include a series of specific recommendations to support the role of protected areas as tools for environmental education in sustainability.