National Parks in Austria

National parks occupy a special position in nature-conservation policy: In national parks, nature conservancy is the top-most priority. Up to now, Austria has declared six of its ecologically most valuable regions to be national parks.

© ©OÖ.Tourismus/Zak
Up to now, Austria has declared six of its ecologically most valuable regions to be national parks. These parks cover around 2,000 square kilometers, which represents around three percent of the entire country. National Parks Austria highlights the diversity of this land we are proud to call home – mountains in the Hohe Tauern, forest in the Gesäuse, the Kalkalpen and Thayatal, the water and riparian areas of Donauauen National Park, along with Neusiedler See-Seewinkel with its unique steppe landscapes. Finding recreation in protected habitats such as these means discovering and experience nature in its most pristine form.

National parks are enormously important for nature conservation – worldwide and, of course, in Austria, too.

The oldest and biggest Austrian national park is Hohe Tauern National Park, which was established in 1981 and which, spanning around 1,836 km² , is simultaneously the largest national park in Central Europe. Hohe Tauern, Gesäuse and Kalkalpen National Parks protect mountain regions, while those of the Neusiedler See – Seewinkel, Thayatal and Donauauen protect bodies of water. Thayatal and Neusiedler See National Parks are actually border-straddling conservancy areas. The umbrella concept of our national parks is known as National Parks Austria.

The national parks in Austria are ultimately also of significance for regional development, increasingly becoming key projects within the regions. They demand consciousness-building with respect to environmental protection, and give new impulses to business and tourism.

NATIONAL PARKS – SUSTAINABLE FOR NATURE AND MAN



In our national parks, nature conservancy is the top-most priority. National parks preserve the last remnants of virgin countryside and secure those ecosystems, in which the natural dynamics either still prevail or are capable of being restored. It is through this "Dynamic Concept" that national parks differ from other nature sanctuaries (except for wilderness areas), which frequently contain habitats that have been shaped by human use.


Overview of Austria’s 6 national parks:
Kalkalpen National Park
Location: southern Upper Austria (Sengsengebirge and Reichraminger Hintergebirge ranges)
Area: 20,825 ha
Established: 1997

Gesäuse National Park
Location: northern Styria
Area: 11,054 ha
Established: 2002

Donau-Auen National Park
Location: along the Danube from Vienna to the confluence of the Morava on the Slovakian border.
Area: 9,300 ha
Established: 1996

Hohe Tauern National Park
Location: border region between Carinthia, Salzburg and Tyrol
Area: 180,000 ha
Established: Carinthia 1981, Salzburg 1984, Tyrol 1992

Neusiedler See – Seewinkel National Park
Location: the border region of Burgenland – Hungary
Area: 9,700 ha
Established: 1993

Thayatal National Park
Location: northern Lower Austria on the border with the Czech Republic.
Area: 1,330 ha
Established: 2000

Nockberge National Park – not internationally recognized
Nockberge National Park (Carinthia) has been designated a IUCN Category V – Cultural Landscape and was supposed to be turned into a Biosphere Park. However, too few property owners were prepared to incorporate their land within the nature zone, which meant they were unable to reach the 2,500 hectares necessary to achieve international recognition as a Biosphere Park. The Nockberge will therefore continue to be a national park, though without being admitted to IUCN Category II.



Adventure Wilderness at the Kalkalpen National Park
What is a forest sea and a water castle? How can a mountain be a called “sharp wall” and a gorge “bird song”? Questions you will want to explore in and around the area of the Kalkalpen National Park….

Gesäuse National Park
Gesäuse National Park is a landscape of breathtaking beauty which, after a years-long struggle, has been successfully preserved in substantially virgin state, a legacy that will be passed on intact to future generations.

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