The PAN Parks Foundation was a non-governmental organisation that aimed to protect Europe's wildernesses. The foundation filed for bankruptcy in May 2014 in The Netherlands, but was denied the status by the court and is currently in liquidation.[1]
Details
The PAN Parks Foundation was founded in 1998 by the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Dutch travel company Molecaten, with the aim of creating national parks in Europe, along the model of the Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks in North America.[2] The organisation aims to create a network of European wilderness areas where wilderness and high quality tourism facilities are balanced with environmental protection and sustainable local development.[3] It attempts to achieve this through a process of auditing and verification, enabling it to certify parks owned by partners as meeting particular standards, combined with political advocacy on the local and European level.[4]
List of PAN Certified parks
- Central Balkan National Park, Bulgaria
- Fulufjället National Park, Sweden
- Majella National Park, Italy
- Oulanka National Park, Finland
- Paanajärvi National Park, Russia
- Retezat National Park, Romania
- Rila National Park, Bulgaria
- Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, Georgia
- Southwestern Archipelago National Park, Finland
- Peneda-Gerês National Park, Portugal
- Soomaa National Park, Estonia
- Dzūkija National Park, Lithuania[5]
- Čepkēliai Reserve, Lithuania[5]
- Küre Mountains National Park, Turkey[6]