The progress and progress of societies make nature negatively affected by the activities of the human being, as evidenced by activities such as overexploitation of resources and urbanization without control. To prevent these damage to the environment, a government has the possibility of protecting certain natural areas of special interest. Among these areas are natural parks and there are also natural reserves and protected areas, among others.
In this ecology article, we will see What are natural parks and what is their importance.
What are natural parks
To begin, we will explain what a natural national park is and, in general, What are natural parks. Natural parks are Green spaces outdoors that, due to its great biological or geological wealth, they are Protected areas of a special way by the State. In these areas there are laws that limit the activities of the human being and whose objective is to avoid the deterioration of the ecosystems that house. In Spain, the concept of natural park is used to name some protected areas, either on the earth’s surface or under the sea.
What is the function of a natural park
There are several functions that protection of protected green areas perform such as natural parks that become natural national parks:
- Biodiversity conservation and ecosystems: In these areas there are usually native and representative ecosystems of a region, which house a variety of flora and fauna. Protecting these areas implies the conservation of all these biological values.
- Protect in danger of extinction: The parks retain a lot of threatened species of extinction and others whose populations are very scarce or rare.
- Keep important natural scenarios: These spaces can house a large number of natural spaces that come from man’s past. Protecting them allows them to preserve them away from human modification.
- Guarantee cultural diversity: Natural parks house samples of the relationship between man and his environment, both past and present.
- They promote education and recreation: These spaces are environments where environmental education or visits can be developed. Of course, under control.
- Promote research: These spaces are ideal for the development of scientific studies, because they offer very well preserved environments.
- Protection of paleontological deposits: Natural parks also house fossil deposits, which can be studied and examined.
What is the importance of natural parks
With what was previously commented on the functions of natural parks, you can clearly see the great importance of these, but there are more. In addition to the functions mentioned, these are others that allow us to know more about the Importance of natural parks:
- Source of income for countries: Natural parks are also a source of income for countries. This is because they attract tourists to countries, which in the end is part of the GDP of a country, both for the tourism sector and in job creation.
- Energy source: In some cases, natural parks house a large amount of resources that are used for energy generation. A clear case of this is water.
- Protection of natural resources: Natural protected areas provide stability to soils, helping to mitigate the effects of natural disasters, reducing floods or protecting the coasts.
In short, natural parks are vital to the world, both for living beings in general and the planet itself and for society.
How many natural national parks are in Spain
In Spain there are several levels of Natural Heritage Protection. Thus, we find some 15 national parks and 195 natural parks throughout the country. With the exception of Ceuta and Melilla, all communities have at least two natural parks. The Autonomous Community with the highest number of natural parks and reserves is Andalusia with a total of 33. This Autonomous Community of Spain is followed by the Valencian Community (23), the Canary Islands and Castilla y León (20), Catalunya (15), Galicia (12), Asturias (11), Basque Country and Castilla La Mancha (10), Balearic Islands (8), Navarra and Extremadura (4) (3) and La Rioja (2).
Next, we mention the Most important natural parks of Andalusia and Galiciaas an example.
Natural Parks of Andalusia
- Cabo de Gata Natural Park
- Sierra María-Los Velez Natural Park
- Bahía de Cádiz Natural Park
- La Breña and Marismas del Barbate Natural Park
- Strait Natural Park
- Los Alcornocales Natural Park
- Sierra de Grazalema Park
- Sierra de Cardeña and Montoro Natural Park
- Sierra de Hornachuelos Natural Park
- Subbetic Sierras Natural Park
- Sierra de Baza Natural Park
- Sierra de Castril Natural Park
- Sierra de Huétor Natural Park
- Sierra Nevada Natural Park
- Sierra Norte Natural Park in Seville
- Sierra de Aracena Natural Park and Aroche Picos
- Doñana Natural Park
- Natural Park of Despeñaperros
- Sierra de Andújar Natural Park
- Sierra Magina Natural Park
- Sierras de Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas Natural Park
- Montes de Malaga Natural Park
- Sierra de las Nieves Natural Park
- Sierras de Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama Natural Park
- Sierra Norte Natural Park in Seville
Natural Parks of Galicia
- Complexo Dunar Natural Park from Corrubedo and Lagunas de Carregal and Vixán
- Natural or greenhouse park
- Fragas do Eume Natural Park
- Monte Aloia Natural Park
- Baixa Limia Natural Park – Serra do Xurés
- Sierra da Enciña Da Lastra
In this other ecology article, we give you a complete list of the 100 main natural parks of Spain.
What are the most important natural parks of Colombia
We also want to mention, to give more examples of what natural parks and their importance are, about Colombia because it is another area with a large number of green outdoor spaces. Colombia has a total of 56 natural parks. Nevertheless, The following natural parks of Colombia stand out:
- El Cocuy Natural National Park (which we can see in the image below).
- The island of La Corota.
- Los Nevados Natural National Park.
- Corales del Rosario and San Bernardo Natural Park.
- Tayrona Natural National Park.
If you want to read more articles similar to What are natural parks and what is their importancewe recommend that you enter our category of ecosystems.
