The influence of national parks on sustainable rural development in the member states of the European Union

Abstract

National parks, which are natural areas undisturbed by human exploitation, in addition to preserving biodiversity and scientific development, provide the opportunity to develop tourism, recreation and use of natural resources for the purpose of sustainable rural development of the local community. Rich biodiversity contributes to the development of tourism in national parks, and the ecosystem services it provides make development more sustainable. This overview paper presents several national parks in four EU countries: France (Cévennes), Norway (Brehamen; Rahamen), Hungary (Orseg), Spain (Galicia) and their impact on the sustainable development of rural areas in their immediate vicinity. National parks provide the opportunities for the development of rural tourism, catering, production and sale of food. With the increase in the number of tourists, there is a need for the construction of infrastructure, roads and accommodation facilities in rural areas, and also to educate and train staff from the rural community for jobs in the field of tourism. In addition to the economic importance, it is of exceptional cultural and spiritual importance because by presenting ethnic heritage to visitors, the tradition and culture of the given area is preserved. All the mentioned factors provide the possibility of employment, cessation of population migration from rural areas and economic growth and development, and the experiences of these practices from EU countries are also applicable in the Republic of Serbia.