National parks in Austria

Overview map of the national parks

There are six national parks in Austria that are recognized by the IUCN . The umbrella organization of the national parks is called National Parks Austria . The oldest Austrian national park is the Hohe Tauern National Park , which was established in 1981.

National park development

Logo of the National Park Austria

The first plans go back to the years 1915–1918, when the Stuttgart Nature Conservation Park Association and the Austrian Alpine Association Salzburg, Carinthia and later Tyrol acquired suitable areas. However, a draft for the Hohe Tauern National Park at the end of the 1930s silted up due to the war. The three federal states of Salzburg , Tyrol and Carinthia decided on a joint national park in the high mountains in the Heiligenblut Agreement in 1971 . She initiated similar plans in Lower and Upper Austria.

The establishment of the Austrian national parks each took several years, which puts Austria in the middle of the international comparison. In a third of the national parks established worldwide, the duration is more than twenty years due to conflicts.

With the new national park strategy from June 2010, the national parks in Austria are presented under the common concept of National Parks Austria .

Funding and Importance

The national parks are financed to 50% each by the federal government and the respective federal state or the states (in the case of transnational national parks). In total, the national parks offer around 300 jobs (green jobs) .

The national park visitor centers alone have 400,000 visitors annually, making them one of the more important branches of tourism in Austria . With 74,000 visits by schoolchildren and 2,000 guided excursions / hikes, the national parks also fulfill their educational mandate to a significant extent.

Overview

Three national parks protect mountain regions ( Hohe Tauern , Gesäuse and Kalkalpen ) and three national parks protect waters ( Neusiedler See - Seewinkel , Thayatal and Donauauen ).

The Hohe Tauern National Park is the oldest and largest national park in Austria and at around 1836 km² it is also the largest national park in Central Europe.

The Thayatal and Neusiedler See - Seewinkel national parks are cross-border protected areas.

List of national parks in Austria

photo		Surname	Location	description	surface	date
		Hohe Tauern	Salzburg , Tyrol , Carinthia location	since 1981 in Carinthia 42,000 ha, since 1983 in Salzburg 80,500 ha, since 1992 in Tyrol 61,100 ha core zone IUCN II, buffer zone: V	1,856 km²	1981
		Neusiedler See-Seewinkel	Burgenland location	together with Hungary ( Fertő-Hanság National Park )	97 km²	1993
		Danube floodplains	Lower Austria , Vienna location	→ Main article : Donau-Auen National Park	93 km²	1996
		Limestone Alps	Upper Austria location	IUCN II core zone, IUCN V buffer zones	208 km²	1997
		Thayatal	Lower Austria location	together with the Czech Republic ( Podyjí National Park )	13 km²	2000
		Gesäuse	Styria location	→ Main article : Gesäuse National Park	111 km²	2002

Former national parks and projects

The Nockberge National Park , founded in 1987, was not classified by the IUCN in IUCN Category II National Park , but as Protected Landscape (Category V). Therefore it was integrated into a biosphere reserve in 2012 , where it is part of its core zone.

The Tyrolean Lech Valley was at times under discussion for the establishment of a national park. However, in 2004 the Tyrolean state government decided to set up a nature park .

With the National Park Strategy 2010 it was announced that for the - nationally - still insufficiently protected March – Thaya floodplains (Natura 2000 areas under common protection of the EU, as such are also a national legal category) the establishment of a national park should be aimed for.

Wilderness areas in Austria

While national parks correspond to the IUCN category II national park , areas of the stricter IUCN category I are designated as wilderness areas . In Austria there is only an area of ​​around 3,500 hectares, the Dürrenstein wilderness area in Lower Austria , which borders directly on Styria .

See also

• List of national parks
• Nature reserves in Austria
• Nature parks in Austria
• Landscape protection areas in Austria

Web links

• National parks Austria

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Berlakovich: First timetable for the joint further development of the Austrian national parks - presentation of the national park strategy. In: OTS press service. WWF Austria , June 21, 2010, accessed June 21, 2010 (OTS0089). 
2. ↑ Official website of the Hohe Tauern National Park . Retrieved August 30, 2008.
3. ↑ WWF on National Park Strategy : Time is ripe for Austria's 7th National Park - March-Thaya-Auen must be protected. In: OTS press service. WWF Austria, June 21, 2010, accessed June 21, 2010 (OTS0111).