Livradois-Forez Regional Natural Park (French: Parc naturel régional Livradois-Forez) is a protected area of woodlands and traditional farmland in the Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes regions of central France. Spanning the departments of Puy-de-Dôme, Haute-Loire, and Loire, the park covers a total area of 297,000 hectares (730,000 acres).
Within its borders, the park contains more than 150 small communes. The park's main information center is located in Saint-Gervais-sous-Meymont. The area was officially designated as a regional natural park in 1986.
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Natural park may refer to:
In Spain, a natural park (Spanish: parque natural) is a natural space protected for its biology, geology, or landscape, with ecological, aesthetic, educational, or scientific value whose preservation merits preferential attention on the part of public administration. The regulation of the activities that may occur there attempts to assure its protection. Natural parks focus their attention on the conservation and maintenance of flora, fauna, and terrain. Natural parks may be maritime or terrestrial and can be in the mountains, along the coasts, in the desert, or any other geographically defined space.
Spain distinguishes natural parks from national parks. The categories of protected areas in Spain under Law 4/1989 are not based on higher or lower levels of protection, but on functions and characteristics:
A regional nature park or regional natural park (French: parc naturel régional or PNR) is a public establishment in France between local authorities and the French national government covering an inhabited rural area of outstanding beauty, in order to protect the scenery and heritage as well as setting up sustainable economic development in the area.
A PNR sets goals and guidelines for managed human habitation, sustainable economic development, and protection of the natural environment based on each park's unique landscape and heritage. The parks also foster ecological research programs and public education in the natural sciences.
As of 2014 there are 49 PNRs. These account for 15% of all French territory, over 7,000,000 hectares (17,000,000 acres). The parks encompass over 4,200 communes with more than three million inhabitants. The PNR system was created by a decree of March 1, 1967. The territory covered by each PNR is decided by the French Prime Minister and is reexamined every 12 years.