National park

A national park is a nature park designated for conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protected and owned by a government. Although governments hold different standards for national park designation, the conservation of 'wild nature' for posterity and as a symbol of national pride is a common motivation for the continued protection of all national parks around the world. National parks are almost always accessible to the public. Usually national parks are developed, owned and managed by national governments, though in some countries with federal or devolved forms of government, "national parks" may be the responsibility of subnational, regional, or local authorities.
The United States established Yellowstone National Park, the first "public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people," in 1872. Although Yellowstone was not officially termed a "national park" at the time, in practice it is widely held to be the first and oldest national park in the world. The Tobago Main Ridge Forest Reserve and the area surrounding Bogd Khan Uul Mountain, which were restricted from cultivation to protect surrounding farmland, are considered the oldest legally protected areas. Parks Canada, established on May 19, 1911, is the world's oldest national park service.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and its World Commission on Protected Areas have defined "National Park" as its Category II type of protected areas. According to the IUCN, 6,555 national parks worldwide met its criteria in 2006. IUCN is still discussing the parameters of defining a national park.
The largest national park in the world meeting the IUCN definition is the Northeast Greenland National Park, which was established in 1974 and is in area.

Definitions

In 1969, the IUCN declared a national park to be a relatively large area with the following defining characteristics:

One or several ecosystems not materially altered by human exploitation and occupation, where plant and animal species, geomorphological sites and habitats are of special scientific, educational, and recreational interest or which contain a natural landscape of great beauty;
Highest competent authority of the country has taken steps to prevent or eliminate exploitation or occupation as soon as possible in the whole area and to effectively enforce the respect of ecological, geomorphological, or aesthetic features which have led to its establishment; and
Visitors are allowed to enter, under special conditions, for inspirational, educative, cultural, and recreative purposes.

In 1971, these criteria were further expanded upon leading to more clear and defined benchmarks to evaluate a national park. These include:

Minimum size of 1,000 hectares within zones in which protection of nature takes precedence
Statutory legal protection
Budget and staff sufficient to provide effective protection
Prohibition of exploitation of natural resources qualified by such activities as sport, hunting, fishing, the need for management, facilities, etc.

While the term national park is now defined by the IUCN, many protected areas in various countries are still called national park even when they correspond to other categories of the IUCN Protected Area Management Definition, for example:

Swiss National Park, Switzerland: IUCN Ia – Strict Nature Reserve
Everglades National Park, United States: IUCN Ib – Wilderness Area
Koli National Park, Finland: IUCN II – Surface Area
Victoria Falls National Park, Zimbabwe: IUCN III – National Monument
Vitosha National Park, Bulgaria: IUCN IV – Habitat Management Area
New Forest National Park, United Kingdom: IUCN V – Protected Landscape
Etniko Ygrotopiko Parko Delta Evrou, Greece: IUCN VI – Managed Resource Protected Area

While national parks are generally understood to be administered by national governments, in Australia, with the exception of six national parks, national parks are run by state governments and predate the Federation of Australia; similarly, national parks in the Netherlands are administered by the provinces. In Canada, there are both national parks operated by the federal government and provincial or territorial parks operated by the provincial and territorial governments, although nearly all are still national parks by the IUCN definition.
In many countries, including Indonesia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, national parks do not adhere to the IUCN definition, while some areas which adhere to the IUCN definition are not designated as national parks.

Terminology

As many countries do not adhere to the IUCN definition, the term "national park" may be used loosely. In the United Kingdom, and in some other countries such as Taiwan, a "national park" simply describes a general area that is relatively undeveloped, scenic, and attracts tourists, with some form of planning restrictions to ensure it maintains those characteristics. There may be substantial human settlements within the bounds of a national park.
Conversely, parks that meet the criteria may be not be referred to as "national parks". Terms like "preserve" or "reserve" may be used instead.

History

Early references

Starting in 1735 the Naples government undertook laws to protect Natural areas, which could be used as a game reserve by the royal family; Procida was the first protected site; the difference between the many previous royal hunting preserves and this one, which is considered to be closer to a Park rather than a hunting preserve, is that Neapolitan government already considered the division into the present-day wilderness areas and non-strict nature reserves.
In 1810, the English poet William Wordsworth described the Lake District as a "sort of national property, in which every man has a right and interest who has an eye to perceive and a heart to enjoy." The painter George Catlin, in his travels through the American West, wrote during the 1830s that Native Americans in the United States might be preserved "... in a magnificent park... A nation's Park, containing man and beast, in all the wild and freshness of their nature's beauty!"

First efforts: Hot Springs, Arkansas and Yosemite Valley

The first effort by the U.S. Federal government to set aside such protected lands was on 20 April 1832, when President Andrew Jackson signed legislation that the 22nd United States Congress had enacted to set aside four sections of land around what is now Hot Springs, Arkansas, to protect the natural, thermal springs and adjoining mountainsides for the future disposal of the U.S. government. It was known as Hot Springs Reservation, but no legal authority was established. Federal control of the area was not clearly established until 1877. The work of important leaders who fought for animal and land conservation were essential in the development of legal action. Some of these leaders include President Abraham Lincoln, Laurance Rockefeller, President Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, and First Lady Lady Bird Johnson to name a few.
John Muir is today referred to as the "Father of the National Parks" due to his work in Yosemite. He published two influential articles in The Century Magazine, which formed the base for the subsequent legislation.
President Abraham Lincoln signed an Act of Congress on 1 July 1864, ceding the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias to the state of California. According to this bill, private ownership of the land in this area was no longer possible. The state of California was designated to manage the park for "public use, resort, and recreation". Leases were permitted for up to ten years and the proceeds were to be used for conservation and improvement. A public discussion followed this first legislation of its kind and there was a heated debate over whether the government had the right to create parks. The perceived mismanagement of Yosemite by the Californian state was the reason why Yellowstone was put under national control at its establishment six years later.

First national park: Yellowstone

In 1872, Yellowstone National Park was established as the United States' first national park, being also the world's first national park. In some European and Asian countries, however, national protection and nature reserves already existed - though typically as game reserves and recreational grounds set aside for royalty, such as a part of the Forest of Fontainebleau.
Yellowstone was part of a federally governed territory. With no state government that could assume stewardship of the land, the federal government took on direct responsibility for the park, the official first national park of the United States. The combined effort and interest of conservationists, politicians and the Northern Pacific Railroad ensured the passage of enabling legislation by the United States Congress to create Yellowstone National Park. Theodore Roosevelt and his group of conservationists, the Boone and Crockett Club, were active campaigners and were highly influential in convincing fellow Republicans and big business to back the bill. Yellowstone National Park soon played a pivotal role in the conservation of these national treasures, as it was suffering at the hands of poachers and others who stood at the ready to pillage what they could from the area. Theodore Roosevelt and his newly formed Boone and Crockett Club successfully took the lead in protecting Yellowstone National Park from this plight, resulting in laws designed to conserve the natural resources in Yellowstone and other parks under the Government's purview.
American Pulitzer Prize-winning author Wallace Stegner wrote: "National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst."