European Diploma holding areas
Armenia
Khosrov Forest Reserve
"Khosrov Forest” state reserve is one the oldest protected areas in the world having a history of about 1700 years. The reserve preserves ancient cultural amenities, historical-architectural monuments, unique plant and animal species, splendid diversity of scenic landscapes. It was founded in...
Austria
Krimml Waterfalls Natural Site
The Krimml Falls are located at the north-western margin of the Hohe Tauern National Park in Krimml, the westernmost community of the federal state of Salzburg. Comprising 1,856 km², the Hohe Tauern National Park is the largest national park in the Alps and the oldest national park in Austria....
Thayatal National Park
By decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, the European Diploma for Protected Areas of the Council of Europe has been awarded to the National Park of Thayatal for the very “natural” state of the park, its biological components and the model co-operation on either side of...
Wachau Protected Landscape
The "Wachau" lies in the middle of Lower Austria some 65 km west of Vienna. The Wachau is that stretch of the Danube where the river cuts a roughly 33 km long valley through the basement complex of Bohemian massif between Melk in the west and Krems in the east, embracing also the hillsides...
Belgium
Hautes Fagnes Nature Reserve
Situated in the north-eastern Ardennes, the Hautes Fagnes nature reserve occupies some of the highest territory in Belgium (700 m). It features moorland and heath, and a harsh, rainy climate. The reserve is partly in the German-speaking eastern canton and partly in Wallonia. For information:...
Bulgaria
Central Balkan National Park
The Central Balkan National Park (CBNP) is the second largest national park in Bulgaria and one of the largest European protected areas. The CBNP covers an area of 72,021.07 ha (720 sq. km) and belongs to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) category II. The park contains...
Czech Republic
Bilé Karpaty Protected Landscape Area
The White Carpathians (Bilé Karpaty) are a mountainous area stretching out along the border between the Czech Republic and Slovakia over a length of some 80 km. It belongs to the westernmost part of the Carpathian range. The area is particularly valuable because of its high species diversity and...
Karlštejn National Nature Reserve
The Karlstejn National Nature Reserve covers about 16 square kilometres of the Bohemian Karst Protected Landscape Area. The reserve forms part of the Karlstejn-Koda Natura 2000 site designated for its valuable habitats, plant and insect species, and large populations of bats. Some 400 million...
Podyjí National Park
Exceptional undisturbed river valley with adjacent complexes of more or less natural woodland and small areas of unique non-wooded communities, lying at the contact of two biogeographic regions. The territory is unique, above all, in geomorphological arrangement and considerable species diversity...
Estonia
Matsalu National Park
The Matsalu Nature Reserve - the first applicant from Estonia - is an example of an area with a high variety of habitats and one of the richest in Europe in terms of species, in particular with regard to birds. Situated in the west of Estonia, it is a wetland of international importance already...
Finland
Ekenäs Archipelago National Park (Tammisaari)
The Ekenäs Archipelago National Park protects a unique sample of the islands and coastal waters of the Baltic Sea. It is especially important, that it covers an entire cross-section of the archipelago from the inner zone to the edge of the open sea. The region belongs to the Project Aqua and has...
Seitseminen National Park
Seitseminen National Park is located on a watershed of western Finland in the central boreal forest zone. Some of the state-owned forests in Seitseminen have been under protection since the beginning of this century. The rural area surrounding the park is sparsely populated. Tampere, the nearest...
France
Camargue National Reserve
The reserve occupies an area of the Rhone delta between the Greater and the Lesser Rhone, with the sea to the south; its principal feature is the Vaccarès Lagoon. Annual rainfall is about 592 mm; the rain falls chiefly in the autumn and winter causing temporary flooding; however, intensive...
Mercantour National Park
Created on the basis of a former national hunting reserve, itself the result of a hunting reserve belonging to the King of Italy that came under French sovereignty in 1947, the Mercantour National Park is a narrow strip of land crossed by a series of rivers that flow mainly from north to south:...
Scandola Nature Reserve
La Réserve Naturelle de Scandola est une Réserve mixte, terrestre et marine, située dans le bassin nord occidental de la Méditerranée à l'extrimité ouest de la Corse. La presqu’île de Scandola est caractérisée par des falaises rocheuses qui outre leur intérêt géologique (caldeira, orgues...
Vanoise National Park
La Vanoise est située dans le département de la Savoie entre les chaînes montagneuses de la Tarentaise et de la Maurienne. C’est un paysage alpin comprenant 107 sommets de 3000 m ou plus, et partageant une frontière de 14 km de long avec le Parc National de Gran Paradiso en Italie. Ces deux parcs...
Georgia
Vashlovani Protected Areas
The Vashlovani Protected Areas include five areas: the Vashlovani Strict Nature Reserve, the Vashlovani National Park, the Alazani Riparian Forest Natural Monument, the Takhti-Tepa Natural Monument and the Eagle Canyon Natural Monument. These areas of European significance have remarkable...
Germany
Bayerischer Wald National Park
Here in the heart of Europe wild nature has found a home again. State and linguistic boundaries between Germany and Czech Republic run along its main ridge, which separates the catchment areas of the Danube and Elbe. The national park is shaped by forests, peatlands, water courses and secondary...
Berchtesgaden National Park
The park is situated in south-eastern Bavaria about 35 km south of Salzburg and 125 km south-east of Munich. It follows the border with Austria on all sides except the north. It is noted for the exceptional quality of its landscapes, the richness of its flora and fauna and the diversity of its...
Lüneburg Heath Nature Reserve
The Nature Reserve "Lüneburger Heide" contains the largest remaining historical heathland areas in Central Europe, a relict of a former widespread landscape developed by heathland farming ("Heidebauernwirtschaft") especially in the middle ages. The origin of this manmade landscape is the use from...
Siebengebirge Nature Reserve
The scenery of nearly 40 wooded hilltops along the river Rhine, close to Bonn, Königswinter and Bad Honnef, is the result of volcanic activity and subsequent erosion of 25 million years ago. These hills (max. 460 m) which overlook pleasant villages in the Rhine valley, are crowned with medieval...
Weltenburger Enge Nature Reserve
Weltenburger Enge is a gorge about 6 km in length. One of the most beautiful and striking landscapes of the upper Danube; it crosses some of the foothills of the Southern Franconian Jura 20 km south-west of Regensburg. It features 70 m high rock faces and geological strata of considerable...
Wollmatinger Ried Untersee-Gnadensee Nature Reserve
The Wollmatinger Ried is after the Rhine delta one of the most important wetlands on Lake Constance with numerous endangered plant species; In autumn and winter it is an internationally very important area for resting waterfowl, in spring and summer for many breeding birds. The reserve forms a...
Wurzacher Ried Nature Reserve
Wurzacher Ried is an area of extensive moorland in which mires of every type are perfectly preserved. It is the largest intact raised bog of Central Europe, an exemplary relic of the early landscape that developed after the last ice age. It is situated in the Land of Baden-Württemberg in Upper...
Germany/ Luxembourg
Germano-Luxembourg Nature Park
Western Europe's first-ever transfrontier nature park is a vast area of natural and farmed landscape little disturbed by civilisation and appreciated by holidaymakers; it lies on both sides of the border rivers Our and Sauer. There are numerous items of natural and cultural interest: typical...
Greece
Cretan White Mountains National Park
A gorge of considerable geomorphological interest in the White Mountains of western Crete. A footpath starts at 1200m and ends at sea level. Steep rock faces, mountain streams and numerous fresh water springs, forests of Pinus brutia and Cypressus sempervirens and relicts of former cultures in...
Hungary
Ipolytarnóc Fossils Protected Area
Ipolytarnóc Fossils is above all a paleontological site of major importance, originating in a volcanic eruption which, as in the case of Pompeii, buried under ash what are now petrified trees, animal fossils, other trace fossils, leaf imprints etc. This disaster occurred, according to the newest...
Szénás Hills Protected Area
Dolomite mountains - important natural genetic resources - extremely rich in unique endemic and relict species (floral richness - original absence of forest) - unique and specific area even at European level both from scientific and educational viewpoints. For information: Duna-Ipoly Nemzeti...
Volcanic phenomena of the Tihany Peninsula
The natural endowments and beauty of the Tihany Peninsula are unique not only by Hungarian, but even by European standards. Lake Balaton itself is also unique, being a vast but at the same time extraordinarily shallow, and thus vulnerable lake. The Tihany Peninsula is the only one in the lake,...
Ireland
The Burren Region
The Burren (from the Gaelic word Boireann or ‘rocky place’) is located along Ireland’s Atlantic coastline, between the counties of Clare and Galway. Extending over 720km2, it is widely considered to be Ireland’s flagship heritage landscape. The Burren is widely renowned for its striking...
Italy
Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park
The park is situated in the heart of the central Apennines, 160 km south-east of Rome, on the upper course of the river Sangro. It is a limestone and dolomite massif influenced by karst phenomena and glaciations with peaks of 2000m and more. It is noted for very hot summers and heavy winter...
Gran Paradiso National Park
The Gran Paradiso National Park (GPNP), the first Italian national park established in 1922, combines two main targets: nature conservation and cultural and scientific development. The Park includes many different Alpine habitats, from the bottom of the valleys (800 meters of altitude) to the...
Maremma Regional Park
Coastal area bordering the Tyrrhenian Sea in the province of Grosseto in the Tuscany region; rectangular shape with a length of 25 km. and a maximal width of 7,5 km.; it has an alluvial character in the north and hilly in the centre and south. The plain along the river Ombrone are used for...
Maritime Alps Nature Park (formerly the Argentera Nature Park)
The Alpi Marittime Nature Park, a former royal hunting reserve in the Piedmont region, is twinned with the Mercantour National Park. These two areas are on opposite sides of the same Alpine massif, in the heart of the Alpes-Maritimes, considered to be the prime habitat for endemic species in the...
Montecristo Island Nature Reserve
Montecristo is a rocky island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, situated 45 km off Elba: the highest point is 645m above sea level. Sparse vegetation in the rocky sites. Characteristic mediterranean flora and fauna. For information: Ministero dell'Agricoltura e delle Foreste Gestione ex Azienda di Stato...
Regional Park Gallipoli Cognato
The Regional Park Gallipoli Cognato covers an area of almost 27000 hectares, within the provinces of Matera and Potenza. The Park protects an area located just in the middle of Basilicata Region with relevant naturalistic, historical and ethno-anthropological values: the forest of Gallipoli...
Regional Park of Migliarino, San Rossore and Massaciuccoli
The Migliarino, San Rossore and Massaciuccoli Regional Park stretches along the Tyrrhenian coastline from Viareggio to Livorno, near Pisa, and covers approximately 23.000 hectares. At first sight, the Park is immense woodland of stone-pines (Pinus pinea) which are typical of the Tuscan coastline...
Sasso Fratino Integral Nature Reserve
Sasso Fratino is situated on the north-eastern side of the Apennines (650-1520m), about 60 km north-east of Florence. Its position north of the watershed places it in the zone of influence of the Adriatic; in the Emilia-Romagna region, it forms part of the Casentino State Forest which covers more...
Netherlands
Boschplaat Nature Reserve
The Boschplaat is the 10-kilometre long uninhabited eastern part of the Dutch Wadden island Terschelling. It is one of the largest salt marsh areas in the Waddensea. It covers almost 4,400 hectares of salt marshes, dunes, mud flats, dune forests and sandy beaches. The area is of great importance...
De Oostvaardersplassen Nature Reserve
The nature reserve "De Oostvaardersplassen" is an extensive marshland area with large landscape variations: from reed marshes to swamp forests and from grasslands to open water. The area is of a great importance to all birdlife. Both, breeding birds, migratory birds and wintering birds are...
Naardermeer Nature Reserve
The Naardermeer is a wetland of 1,080 hectares in the centre of the Netherlands and forms the northern part of the Vechtplassen region, which consists of various lakes and marshes. The nature reserve itself is bound in the West, North and East by infrastructure and cities. The Naardermeer has a...
National Park Weerribben-Wieden
The present landscape of National Park Weerribben - Wieden originated from the extraction of peat. Now it is a significant region because of the various stages in the natural development from open water to carr woodland. The region has a wide diversity of environments varying from open water,...
Poland
Bieszczady National Park
Bieszczady National Park was established in 1973. It covers 290.2 km² of the easternmost part of the Carpathian range in Poland. The elevation area ranges between 650 and 1,346 m above sea level. There are three floors of vegetation depending on the elevation: foothills reaching up to about 500 m...
Portugal
Desertas Nature Reserve
Desertas Islands Nature Reserve is situated in North Atlantic, next to Madeira Island, Portugal, at a distance of about 22 nautical miles, and is bounded by the 100 meters bathymetric contour line, including all the islands (Ilhéu Chão, Deserta Grande and Bugio), islets and respective maritime...
Selvagens Islands Nature Reserve
Selvagens Islands Nature Reserve is situated in North Atlantic, 163 nautical miles from Madeira Island, Portugal, and is bounded by the 200 meters bathymetric contour line, including all the islands (Selvagem Grande, Selvagem Pequena and Ilhéu de Fora), islets and respective maritime area. These...
Romania
Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve
At the end of a course of over 2,840 km, collecting water from a vast hydrological basin that exceeds 8% of the area of Europe, the Danube (the second largest river of the Continent) has during the last 16,000 years built at its mouth on the Black Sea one of the most beautiful deltas in Europe,...
Piatra Craiului National Park
The Piatra Craiului National Park is one of the most attractive places in the Romanian Carpathians. The breathtaking landscape and the multitude of hiking, climbing and biking trails attract many visitors from Romania and abroad. The park hosts a multitude of plant and animal species, among them...
Retezat National Park
At the end of a course of over 2,840 km, collecting the water from a vast hydrological basin that exceeds 8% of the area of Europe, the Danube (the second largest river of the Continent) has during the last 16,000 years built at its mouth with the Black Sea one of the most beautiful deltas in...
Slovak Republic
Dobročský Prales National Nature Reserve
The National Nature Reserve aims at protecting the natural environment, flora and biocenosis which are the examples of European natural ecosystems. It is the preserved fragment of the Carpathian natural forest (virgin forest) as a unique example of the forest ecosystem in the climax stage of...
Poloniny National Park
The National Park is a woody mountain area (mid-highland with the character of lower highland up to a higher mountainous landscape) of the flysch zones of the Carpathians, partly influenced by a traditional economical human activity. Forests consist predominantly of deciduous wood plants of mild...
Slovenia
Triglav National Park
The Park, located in the Julian Alps and containing Mount Triglav, a symbol of national pride, covered 4% of Slovenia's territory and harboured 20% of the country’s water resources. Its great wealth in terms of biodiversity was explained by a combination of Mediterranean and alpine influences....
Spain
Doñana National Park
The Doñana National Park, in the extreme southwest of Spain, is an extraordinary wetland located on the right bank of the Guadalquivir river, where it meets the Atlantic Ocean. The interrelation of the ocean with the Guadalquivir river has been the main factor generating the great diversity of...
Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park
A representative section of the central Spanish Pyrenees (780-3355m) in the province of Huesca, with a mainly calcareous substrate. It is adjacent to the Western Pyrenees National Park in France. The four main sectors are Ordesa, Añisclo, Escuain and Pineta. For information: Parque Nacional de...
Teide National Park
Most of the National Park, which covers 18,900 ha in the centre of the island of Tenerife (Canary Islands), is 2,000 m above sea level. It essentially consists of one big caldera, known as Circo de Las Cañadas, and the magnificent stratovolcano Teide, which is the highest point in Spain and the...
Sweden
Bullerö and Långviksskär Nature Reserves
The two nature reserves Bullerö and Långviksskär make up a magnicificent part of the Swedish archipelago outside Stockholm. Together the reserves cover more than 1 200 islands, islets and rocks. The birdlife is rich with more than 100 different species. The flora is typical for the archipelago...
Muddus National Park
Muddus/Muttos is an unbroken assemblage of virtually primeval forests and peatlands on moraine-covered granite. It is situated just inside the Arctic circle in the area of Gällivare in Swedish Lapland. Lake Muttosjávrre lies in flat ground gorges in the southern part of the park; the Muttosjåhkå...
Sarek and Padjelanta National Parks
Europe's largest national park. Undisturbed mountain landscape with impressive peaks, glaciers and steep-sided valleys in Sarek, and wide plateaux with extensive lakes in Padjelanta. For information: County Administrative Board of Norrbotten S-971 86 Luleå Swedish environmental protection...
Store Mosse National Park
Store Mosse is the largest peatland region south of Lapland. Although situated in southern Sweden, it provides a habitat for animal and plant species typical of the country’s northerly regions. Lake Kävsjön is known for its bird life. In the post glacial era, Lake Fornoholmen occupied what is now...
Switzerland
Swiss National Park
The Swiss National Park (SNP) is a high mountain nature reserve (altitude 1,380 to 3,173 m) situated mainly in the Lower Engadine Dolomites. The SNP, established in 1914, is the first national park of the Alps and belongs to the IUCN-category Ia (wilderness area). That means it is fully protected...
Türkiye
Kuşcenneti National park
Kusçenneti is situated near the Sea of Marmara in north-western Türkiye. The country's smallest national park occupies the north-eastern shore of Kus Gölu (Lake Kus) which covers 162 km² at the mouth of the river Sigirci. For information: Mrs. Ferrah CAKIR, Provincial Directorate of Environment...
Ukraine
Carpathian Biosphere Reserve
The Carpathian Biosphere Reserve (CBR), with a total area of 58,035.8 ha, represents nearly the whole landscape and biogeographical diversity of the Ukrainian part of the East Carpathians. The reserve consists of eight isolated massifs. The protected massifs are located at an altitude of 180 –...
United Kingdom
Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve
Beinn Eighe and Loch Maree Islands National Nature Reserve lies 80 kilometres west of Inverness just outside the village of Kinlochewe. The reserve is home to the largest remaining area of ancient Caledonian pinewood in the West of Scotland, and boasts an outstanding diversity of habitats,...
Fair Isle National Scenic Area
Fair isle is an isolated and almost completely treeless island lying between Orkney and Shetland, whose climate is influenced by the Gulf Stream. In the summer there are 21 days of fog per month, on average. The landscape is of two types: moorland and cliff to the north and gentle terrain and...
Minsmere Nature Reserve
Situated on the Suffolk coast, in Eastern England, Minsmere is one of the most important nature reserves in the United Kingdom. It has a diverse range of extensive habitat, including wetland, heathland, grassland, coastal shingle and dune and woodland. It has tremendous biodiversity, with over...
Peak District National Park
The Peak District National Park is the first designated national park in the United Kingdom. It is situated at the centre of England, between Sheffield and Manchester, one of the most accessible of our protected landscapes. Almost one third of the National Park comprises areas of international...
Purbeck Heritage Coast
The Purbeck Heritage Coast comprises two blocks on the English Channel coast between Weymouth and Bournemouth around the town of Swanage, within the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is an extremely diverse landscape: the northern block includes a continuous transition from...
