Forms of nature protection such as national parks and Natura 2000 sites
Forests cover about 47 % of Austria’s federal territory and are thus of great importance for the maintenance and enhancement of biodiversity. Austria’s forests have always offered protection, have fulfilled important beneficial functions such as providing drinking water, and have offered living areas for humans, animals and plants. Moreover, forests are also an important economic factor for Austria.
About 43 % of the Natura 2000 areas reported by Austria are forest areas. About 2/3 of the forest area can be classified as natural, near-natural or semi-natural. Nature parks, unlike national parks, are areas managed by man and smaller in size. (www.naturparke.at). Biosphere reserves (parks) are natural landscapes which are of particular importance to humans. The biosphere park “Wienerwald”, the first such park world-wide, is located very close a city of more than one million inhabitants.
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There are 93 forest biotypes in Austria. Rare forest types are for example recreational forests, which are particularly endangered by human intervention. Also peat, swamp and marsh forests are sensitive ecosystems whose development requires incredibly long periods of time. |