It could be said that the EUROPARC Federation was born out of the curiosity of people working in Protected Areas, to find out what is happening elsewhere.

This curiosity, and the interdependence of Europe’s nature, led the founders of the Federation of Nature and National Parks, to commit themselves, to further the conservation of Europe’s nature through international cooperation. This hope for a better future, emerged in the early 1970’s at a time of considerable political and economic crisis.

The human pressures on the environment were recognised through the Stockholm declaration and the first CITES agreement was signed, signalling that species themselves were at risk of extinction through unsustainable use. 40 years later, the challenges, the need for international cooperation and the hope remain.

The founders of EUROPARC set out to create a constitution for Nature stating that working for nature was “restricted by conventional frontiers – frontiers that are not feasible for nature”. Prof Dr C.V. Oprea (RO), early council member.

In this section you will discover our members and our sections.