Protected areas and cultural landscape
The conservation and sustainable development of our National Natural Landscapes is the goal of protected areas such as national parks, UNESCO biosphere reserves or nature parks. In addition to the protection and development of nature and cultural landscapes, the actors in these areas are also active in the fields of nature-friendly tourism/local recreation, environmental education/education for sustainable and regional development. In 2015 UNESCO created the "Global Geoparks" category, which has similar objectives and activities.
We have been supporting protected areas for years with the research, development and evaluation of their model approaches. In addition, we are active in the participatory elaboration of development strategies and framework concepts as well as in advising protected areas.
In order to conserve our nature and cultural landscapes, one focus of our work is the development and implementation of "protection through use strategies". This goes hand in hand with the promotion of regional value chains, especially in the field of environmentally and nature-compatible products and services. The research, further development, implementation and evaluation of such approaches is a central component of our work.
Contact person at IfLS: Dr. Ulrich Gehrlein (gehrlein[at]ifls.de, 069/9726683-17)
