The Designation of National Parks in German Nature Conservation Law

Summary

The declaration of rural areas which are valuable in an nature conservative context to national parks has been an important instrument for the protection of nature for a long time. Originated in the USA, the national park model has spread across the entire world. However, the same environmental circumstances as those existing in the USA do not predominate everywhere. Consequently, the US-American concept is not appropriate for many countries.

In the meantime fifteen national parks have also been established in Germany. In this context, the legal prerequisites for the designation of national parks in Germany are not always undisputed. Above all, the fact that Germany, as a densely settled country, no longer has the requisite extensive and pristine natural landscape causes problems. This contentious question culminated in the court case of the Elbtalaue National Park, which had already been established, with the result that the declaration of protection was rescinded. This problem is symptomatical for other national parks in Germany, e.g. the Unteres Odertal National Park, the German investigative area of the DFG Graduate Training Programme. As a consequence of this, the German federal legislators have eased the legal prerequisites for the establishment of national parks. To begin with, this contribution presents the currently valid preconditions for the designation of national parks in Germany.

Since the concept of national parks has meanwhile become established world-wide, standards for national parks have been developed on an international level. As an integral contribution within its sphere of competence, the IUCN's World Commission on Protected Areas promotes the establishment and the effective management of a world-wide representative network of protected areas. In the course of this task the IUCN worked out a definition and criteria for the national park protection category in good time and ratified a resolution on them at its 10th General Assembly in 1969. The Federal Republic of Germany, as an IUCN contract state, is bound by this resolution. As a consequence, the question as to whether the new statutory regulation still conforms to these international requirements will be positively answered.