About PAN Parks

PAN Parks is a unique concept that brings together nature conservation and sustainable tourism. Initially set up in the 1990’s by WWF and Molecaten, a Dutch tourism operator. It was created with the vision of raising awareness of European wilderness. Most Europeans were unaware of the large number of wilderness areas on their very own doorsteps… Wilderness to them meant America or Africa.

This vision gave birth to PAN Parks. Inspired by the FSC certificate, it aims to create an internationally recognised independent standard for protected areas and the development of sustainable tourism in and around them. The PAN Parks brand gives visitors a guarantee that their visit is supporting the future of Europe’s Wilderness.

A survey was carried out of potential wilderness areas and an initial number of important parks identified to undergo the verification process. This has resulted in a network of 8 certified parks by 2006. This number is increasing steadily with new parks joining each year. To visit the parks click here

To be a PAN Park, a National Park must fit a series of principles and criteria.

• Firstly it has to have a minimum size of 20,000 ha
• At its heart there is a core zone of at least 10,000 ha – an area that is strictly for nature and free from exploitative activity. This provides a safe haven for wildlife
• Its management both of nature and visitors must be of the highest standards.

Once a park has reached these standards and undergone an independent verification it can become a certified park. This is not an easy process and even the best managed parks have areas for improvement identified. To find out more about the verification process click here

After certification, the Park managers and local stakeholders are brought together to develop a Sustainable Tourism Development Strategy for the area. Appropriate activities and zoning of the park are identified. Existing local tourism businesses are given support to ensure that they are operating in a way that does not harm the park or its environment.

Existing and new tourism businesses are encouraged to undergo certification to ensure they are operating in a sustainable manner and to provide a guarantee to visitors that they helping to ensure that the Wilderness is there for future generations.