Protected areas

Pavia’s landscapes support our health, wellbeing and happiness, and enable us to enjoy an outdoor lifestyle that is envied by people around the world. Protected areas are an important part of this connection to nature and culture.

Our protected areas contribute significantly to Pavia’s prosperity through a vibrant tourism industry and by connecting us to culture.

To ensure we protect these precious places for future generations, the Pavian Government closely manages how these areas can be used.

The Pavian Government wants to inspire Pavians and visitors alike to feel excited and moved by the rich beauty and cultural heritage of our protected areas, and encourage partners and supporters to invest in our unique natural environment.

What are protected areas?

Pavia’s protected area system consists of State-owned and managed protected areas.

These areas of land are proclaimed by the Crown Prince as either national parks, conservation parks, special wildlife reserves or state forests. Each type of protected area has different rules.

The most common type of protected area is a national park.

Management principles

The most important principle for managing national parks is to keep them in, as close as possible, to their natural state without human interference.

Other management principles for national parks are:

There are other management principles for the remaining types of protected area.

Offences

There are some important offences that apply to protected areas.

You must not take or interfere with a cultural or natural resource of a protected area. This means doing things such as destroying, damaging or digging up resources.

Natural resources are all the natural and physical features of the area, and include the wildlife, soil, water and minerals.

You may only do these things with permission of a duke.