The Austrian national park strategy - aims and visions of Nationalparks Austria

Abstract

Over the last ten years, the Austrian national parks experienced a period of intensive development. Major infrastructure and management projects were successfully completed during this time. The six national parks are now models of conservation in Austria. Eventually, the wealth of joint projects and cooperations exceeded existing capacities for efficient organization, coordination and implementation. The lack of a jointly agreed nationwide orientation of national park policy also made itself felt. It would only be a matter of time before individual national parks would veer off in different directions unless something was done about it. In several workshops, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, together with the national parks, developed a strategy for the future of the Austrian national parks. Subsequently, this strategy was discussed with the federal states and NGOs (Austrian League for Nature Conservation, Austrian Association of Alpine Sports, Austrian Friends of Nature, Environment Umbrella Organization and WWF Austria) and expanded further. It focused on efficient organization and coordination of joint multi-park actions for the six national parks under the overall brand Nationalparks Austria. © Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management.