FAQs
How many national parks are there in Austria?
There are six national parks in Austria: Donau-Auen NP, Gesäuse NP, Hohe Tauern NP, Kalkalpen NP, Neusiedler See - Seewinkel NP and Thayatal NP.
What is Nationalparks Austria?
As the umbrela organisation, Nationalparks Austria encompasses all Austrian parks. Nationalparks Austria is also an association that promotes cooperation between all of the parks.
How big are the Austrian national parks?
The Austrian national parks cover a total area of 238,035 ha, or around 3% of the country.
What are the purposes of the national parks?
The main tasks of the Austrian national parks are education, research, nature and species conservation, and recreation.
Are there cross-border national parks?
Two of the national parks extend across several provinces. Hohe Tauern NP is in the provinces of Carinthia, Salzburg and Tyrol. The Danube wetlands are protected in the provinces of Vienna and Lower Austria.
The Czech part of the Thaya Valley NP is also protected in the Národní park Podyjí in the Czech Republic. The cross-border cooperation is excellent. The Lake Neusiedl - Seewinkel NP on the Hungarian border also cooperates with the Fertö-Hanság NP.
What is the difference between a national park and a nature reserve?
A national park allows nature to be nature, with as little human intervention as possible, and to establish a wilderness. Exploiting nature is largely prohibited, especially hunting and forestry.
A nature reserve, however, uses the landscape sustainably, protects in this way the cultural heritage, and has nothing to do with wilderness.
How were the regions for Austrian national parks chosen?
The Austrian national parks protect the most important types of landscape, from steppes to wetlands and woodlands all the way to the alpine and high alpine national parks in the western provinces.
What is IUCN?
Founded in 1948, IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) is a collaboration of states, governmental agencies and a series of different NGOs. This global partnership has no fewer than 800 members in 125 states around the world. It endeavours to motivate society to recognise that our nature is a precious jewel that needs to be cared for, that resources should be used ecologically, and that the diversity and integrity of nature needs our special attention.
All Austrian national parks are recognised by IUCN.