| Large Scale Nature
Reserves Aims and Definitions |
| Aims |
| Nature parks should be
developed according to the principles of land management
to model regions for environmentally friendly open air
and leisure pursuits. This also includes the development
of towns and villages, the encouragement of traditional
land use and the marketing of local products, the
establishment of trades and commerce, the use of local
raw materials and care of the land. The term nature park is a byword in the whole of Germany for a diverse, unspoiled and restful landscape which can meet the needs of townspeople and tourists for peace and quiet, leisure activities and to enjoy nature in an intact setting. A nature park can also bind a community closer together and directly or indirectly enhance its earning potential through tourism and leisure trade. The basic requirements for such development, however, are care of the environment, the maintenance of an unspoiled, cultivated landscape and long term, environmentally friendly industries suited to the prevailing local conditions. |
| Definitions |
| National
park A large scale natural landscape of special interest. They are located in situations and conditions with little or no human interference and serve to maintain a rich variety of flora and fauna, above all through the protection of natural development. This aim to protect the environment should also be extended by national parks to involve visitors by teaching them environmental conservation. |
| Biosphere
reserves Large scale, representative model tracts of natural and cultural landscapes. These historic, mature, cultivated landscapes, together with the people who live and work their are treated and represented as reference concepts for balanced land use methods. They serve within the framework of the world wide UNESCO programme "Man and the biosphere" for the research into human - environmental relationships, ecological environmental observation and environmental studies. |
| Nature
park A large scale cultivated landscape, shaped by centuries of human cultivation. These widely varied and singularly beautiful landscapes with a rich variety of flora and fauna, ways of life and regional variationsare especially well suited to leisure pursuits. Its tenets are the protection of cultivated landscapes, the proper use and care of the land and the maintenance of traditions and historic homesteads. |