National Parks and Preserves

C

Europe

Unlike national parks in North and South America, those in Britain are not entirely owned by the government or managed primarily for recreation and wildlife. Many park lands are privately owned and encompass old settlements. Within 2331 sq km (900 sq mi) Lake District National Park (1951) are many quaint towns and villages. Working farms, rock quarries, and old mines are scattered throughout the park. These farms provide habitat for red deer, fox, swans, and trout. The hundreds of lakes within the park inspired its name, and England’s tallest peak, 978 m (3,209 ft) Scafell Pike, stands here. Stone and earthen ruins as well as burial mounds of England’s Stone, Iron, and Bronze Ages are sheltered in 1437 sq km (555 sq mi) Peak National Park (1951) and 694 sq km (268 sq mi) Exmoor National Park (1954).

National parks in Norway protect colonies of seabirds, walrus, and reindeer herds. Forlandet National Park (1973) is a narrow island with several small glaciers clinging to high peaks. The 640 sq km (247 sq mi) island lies along the northernmost reach of the ocean stream from the Gulf of Mexico, which creates a mild climate, making this an important breeding ground for guillemot ducklike auks. Seals, eider ducks, and geese also depend on its habitats.

Spain’s Doana National Park (1969) provides a 507 sq km (196 sq mi) wildlife refuge where birds that nest in northern Europe feed while migrating to Africa. The last surviving wild lynxes in southern Europe find sanctuary there as well.

D

Africa

Many national parks and preserves in Africa serve as valuable watersheds by stemming erosion while maintaining natural runoff. Numerous herds of land mammals on the savannas create channels in the ground with their hoof prints during migrations through the parks. In the rainy seasons, the channels fill and supply water for vegetation. Runoff that will sustain wildlife when the rains end streams through these channels into rivers, watering holes, and lakes on the protected lands.

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Zimbabwe’s largest national park, Hwange, was established in 1929, primarily because poor soils and scarce water made it unsuitable for agriculture. Despite those conditions, wildlife now flourishes in the 14,651 sq km (5657 sq mi) park. More than 20,000 elephants roamed this area in the mid-1970s, but managed culling (selectively removing old or weak animals from herds) reduced their population to around 12,000 to ease the impact on the park’s limited vegetation. Hwange National Park also supports buffalo, zebra, giraffe, kudu and sable antelope, and impala. Black and white rhinoceros have been returned successfully, and hippopotamuses and crocodiles reside in the park’s water holes and small dam reservoirs. Predators including lions and leopards roam throughout the park.

E

Asia

Corbett National Park became India’s first national park in 1936. Serving as a preserve for tigers, the 521 sq km (201 sq mi) park also protects leopards, several species of monkeys, crocodiles, myna birds, parakeets, and woodpeckers. Tigers are more easily spotted in 392 sq km (151 sq mi) Ranthambore National Park (1980) than in any of India’s other parks. The big cats can be spotted drinking from the park’s lakes and even prowling about Ranthambore Fort, which was built when the park’s land was a private hunting ground used by royalty.

The Indian government also is working to preserve the Asiatic lion, a smaller cousin of the African lion. The Asiatic lion’s only remaining natural habitat is in 259 sq km (100 sq mi) Gir National Park and Lion Sanctuary (1975), where the cat lives in thick forests of teak, ber, jamun, and babul trees. Asiatic lions once roamed from the Middle East to India, but hunting reduced the wild population to fewer than 100 animals by the end of the 19th century. Protection programs at Gir National Park helped the population rebound to nearly 300 by 1996.

Nepal is another Asian nation working to preserve tigers. In 1980, the federal government launched a long-term tiger monitoring project in 932 sq km (360 sq mi) Royal Chitwan National Park (1973), to study the population, habitat, and conservation of tigers.

The largest national park in Malaysia is Gunung Mulu (1974), which encompasses 529 sq km (204 sq mi). Gunung Mulu National Park is the site of the world’s largest limestone cave system with over 200 km (124 mi) of underground passageways. On the surface are 15 different types of forests with thousands of flowering plants, ferns, and mosses, including 170 species of wild orchids and 10 species of the insect-eating pitcher plant.

China did not begin conserving open lands until 1956, when 11 sq km (4 sq mi) Zhaoging Dinghushan Natural Reserve was established in Guangdon Province. Although China now has 463 protected areas, land preservation there still lags behind that of other Asian nations. Poorly defined boundaries, poaching, logging, mining, construction, over-grazing, and the growing human population threaten many areas designated for natural habitat and wildlife protection in the country.

F

Oceania

The far-flung islands that straddle the equator in the western Pacific Ocean, collectively known as Oceania, contain a rich diversity of parks and preserves. Oceania’s islands and surrounding waters contain some 2000 ecosystems, which range from watery reefs to dense rain forests.

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (1979), covering 343,784 sq km (132,739 sq mi) of the Coral Sea, is located off the east coast of the island continent of Australia. Rich populations of fish and marine mammals live among the brilliantly hued coral reefs there. Iron Range National Park (1977) covers 346 sq km (134 sq mi) of Australia’s lowland rain forest. The continent’s largest protected area, Kakadu National Park (1979), encompasses 20,000 sq km (7,700 sq mi) of diverse landscapes leased from aboriginal peoples. Located on the coast along the Timor Sea east of Darwin, Kakadu National Park includes wetlands, grasslands, eucalyptus forests, and gorges. It supports a third of the continent’s plant and animal species, including saltwater crocodiles, frilled lizards, flying foxes, and black wallaroos, a relative of the kangaroo. Aboriginal paintings that date back 20,000 to 35,000 years appear on some of the park’s rocky outcroppings.

On nearby New Zealand, snowcapped peaks climb to 3776 m (12,349 ft) in 699 sq km (270 sq mi) Mount Cook National Park (1953). More than half an ocean away, two active volcanoes, Kilauea and Mauna Loa, emit fire and steam, and produce rivers of lava in 927 sq km (358 sq mi) Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (1961) in Hawaii. Stretching west from the Hawaiian islands is the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument (2006), the world’s largest marine conservation area and home to thousands of species of animals, including the endangered monk seal. The national monument covers nearly 362,600 sq km (140,000 sq mi) of tropical ocean with coral reefs and uninhabited islands.

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