EUROPARC Consulting works in close partnership with the EUROPARC Federation, the umbrella organisation for Europe's protected areas and practitioners. This close link with the Federation is our great strength. After all, the Federation represents around 500 protected areas, governmental departments, NGOs and businesses in 39 countries, who themselves manage the green jewels of Europe's land, sea, mountains, forests, rivers and cultural heritage.

EUROPARC was founded on the need to protect and enhance Europe's natural and cultural protected areas. It does this by encouraging the exchange of experience between and bringing those people together who look after our protected areas; by facilitating and stimulating collaboration and partnerships to encourage innovative forward-thinking in protected-area management across Europe; and by communicating the values and benefits of these places to a wide range of target groups. EUROPARC facilitates international co-operation to improve and conserve biodiversity, manage sustainably land and sea-scapes and ensure the values and benefits of protected areas are at the heart of Europe. It is supported by seven active national and regional Sections: Atlantic Isles, Nordic-Baltic, Germany, Italy, Spain, France and the Czech Republic.

EUROPARC Federation activities

Federation initiatives, programmes and projects help realize its mission and support the management of protected areas across the continent. Sustainable tourism development in protected areas is a particularly important topic for the Federation. One of its main programmes is the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism certification system which has been running successfully, in cooperation with EUROPARC Consulting, now since 2001.

Another particular area of expertise is transboundary cooperation between protected areas that lie adjacent to each other across national borders. The EUROPARC programme "Transboundary Parks - Following Nature's Design", a tool to help transboundary protected areas cooperate more successfully, was initiated in 2000 and is still running strong with the certification of at least two new transboundary parks each year.

EUROPARC also runs or takes part in a number of schemes that education and youth: The international Junior Ranger programme connects young people and their communities to places of national identity and international importance and seeks to enable them to rediscover the values upon which they were founded.

The NatuRegio project contributes to a sustainable conservation of the natural resources of Romania and Bulgaria by enabling young conservationists from both countries to gain expertise and experience in nature conservation and regional development and then to transfer this knowledge to their home countries.

In cooperation with the Alfred Toepfer Foundation (DE), EUROPARC also awards three scholarships each year to promising young conservationists with practical experience in the field of conservation and in the work of protected areas.

The Federation and its sections also organise a number of events throughout the year including seminars, workshops and conferences. The biggest event of the year is EUROPARC's annual conference, which takes place in a different location each year and under a different theme and is attended by between 300 and 400 people.

Another landmark event is the European Day of Parks which aims to raise the profile of Europe's protected areas and generate public support for their aims and work. Hundreds of events are organised by protected areas across Europe on the 25th May each year also on a particular theme.

Have a look for yourself at www.europarc.org.