Denmark's National Park Controversy

Today we had the opportunity to visit with the Nature Agency of Denmark's Department of the Environment.  It is a smaller department for the environment than I expected overall, and the Nature Agency is only a portion of it.  The people that spoke to us today told us that their agency was in charge of creating recreational access, protecting the state lands, securing clean water, restoring nature, planning for towns and landscapes, and managing hunting and wildlife.  In essence, this agency is protecting the forest area and biodiversity.  This is similar to something such as the Bureau of Land Management or the Forest Service in the United States.  However, where the power comes from in Denmark is where the main difference lies from how the agencies operate in the United States.

To illustrate this example, we learned about the national park project that the Nature Agency has been working on for close to twenty years now.  First, let me say that Denmark has no history of national parks like we have in the United States (thanks, Teddy Roosevelt!).  Next, the Nature Agency doesn't really have the power to just establish land as a national park like we do in the United States.  Finally, the agency is in the process of re-foresting and re-establishing wetlands; two actions that aren't primary foci in the United States.  The National Park Project has been a bit of a success but overall an unfinished project.  The separated national park forest areas need to be connected to form an overall habitat corridor and cohesive unit, but farmers in the area have opposed it.  Also, when passing the law about national parks, Danish Parliament said the vote would have to be unanimous instead of just a majority.  They are hoping that a new phase of the project will continue in 2014.  Here's hoping it's a success.

We got to tour the forest and a beautiful lake, see wetland restoration, and finally go to a monastery that is part of the small national park we saw today.  Enjoy!