European Day of Parks is a celebration of all Protected Areas, held on 24 May each year. The initiative was launched by the Europarc Federation in 1999 to mark the centenary of the declaration of the first National Parks in Europe (in Sweden). The aim of the celebrations is to bring people closer to nature and to raise public awareness of the importance of the natural and cultural treasures preserved in Protected Areas, and above all, the importance of conserving and sustainably managing these areas.
Connected by Nature
This year’s theme, “Connected by Nature”, highlights the importance of ecological connectivity. Every day we move – we travel to work, cross bridges, drive through tunnels, and follow roads that connect us to food, family, and adventure. Our world is built on connection, and we depend on it. Imagine if those connections disappeared! For wildlife across Europe, this is not imagination but reality: forests are divided by roads, rivers are cut by dams, meadows are replaced by concrete, and what was once a living network of habitats has become a mosaic of isolated fragments. Animals searching for food, shelter, or mates often encounter obstacles instead of pathways, plants struggle to spread, and ecosystems become weaker.
This is where Protected Areas make a difference.
These spaces play an essential role in conserving and restoring nature. Creating natural corridors is a key part of this work. Protected Areas across Europe are involved in large-scale projects that strengthen ecological connectivity and thus enhance nature’s resilience to pressures and change. By restoring rivers, reconnecting forests, creating wildlife corridors, and working across borders, Protected Areas help reconnect landscapes. They transform isolated areas back into living networks. That is exactly what we are celebrating this European Day of Parks.
Junior Rangers Programme
For us at the Plitvice Lakes National Park Conservation Service, the ideal way to celebrate this year’s theme of the European Day of Parks is to implement the Junior Rangers Programme. We have been running it since 2014 with 8th grade students from local elementary schools because we are connected to them by nature. We live, learn, and work together in a Protected Area or its immediate vicinity.
Therefore, every year, on the occasion of the European Day of Parks, we invite them to get to know the Park better and participate in our daily work of protecting and conserving the natural values we have. This year, for the first time, we organised the programme over two days because we had a record 58 participants from elementary schools in Korenica, Plitvička Jezera, Rakovica, and Cetingrad. From the first year of implementation until today, we have been guided by the desire and hope that in this way we will further raise awareness among young people of the importance of Protected Areas and, in the future, gain new young forces in nature protection.
