Ecrins National Park Page 1 of 4 What is a national park? National Parks have two main objectives: to enhance and conserve an area of natural beauty considered to be remarkable of its kind both because of its scenic qualities and the wealth of its wildlife to give support to rural areas which are faced with the threat of seeing their ancient traditions and customs die, while at the same time encouraging public access by helping visitors to obtain information about the park and making it easier for them to roam freely through it. The first national park in the world was created in 1872 in the USA; this was Yellowstone, by means of which the American Congress set out to conserve part of its national territory in its natural state, with the aim of creating a public park and recreational area for the benefit and enjoyment of the people". The fact that, since that time, national parks have sprung up throughout the world seems to prove the success that that first experiment had. In 1975 the International Union of Nature Conservation decided upon the following criteria to be applied when designating an area as a national park. There should be: efficient and long-lasting protection absence of any inappropriate exploitabon of natural resources an area of at least 1,000 hectares one administrative authority in charge and that being under the sole responsibility of the national government, with, of course, the right to the title of "national park" What is a national park in France? France, being an old civilisation like the rest of its western European neighbours, does not possess a completely unspoilt area on the scale referred to above. Any national park must therefore necessarily be created in a region where there are residents, without the region having been spoilt as a result of an developments. This is how the French have arrived at their definition of a national park as set out by the 1960 law. This law makes a clear distinction between a highly protected central zone and a so-called peripheral zone where a local development programme taking into consideration the specific social and economic needs of the region can be put into practice. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Page 1 of 4