The historical, architectural and cultural sights of France are known to many travelers from different countries. Today we offer you to enjoy the stunning nature of this country.
Do you know the national parks and reserves of France? Most of our readers probably have not heard the names of many of them before. But these territories occupy almost 10% of the country's territory and form a huge ecological zone, one of the largest in Europe. In the article we will introduce you to the most famous and popular of them.
The list of national parks of France (the most visited) is as follows:
- Guadeloupe.
- Por cro
- Pyrenees.
- Sevenn.
- Vanoise.
- Guiana Amazonia.
- Calans.
- Mercantour.
- Reunion.
- Ekren.
All reserves and national parks in France deserve a separate description, but we will provide you with only a brief overview of some of them.
Vanoise
And we will begin our virtual journey with a park located in the Alps, south of Mount Mont Blanc, on the border with Italy. This is the very first national park in France, which was created in 1963. Mountain goats and graceful chamois live in it, the care of which became the reason for the foundation of the park. If you are lucky, you can see here how the most amazing and beautiful mountain flower - edelweiss blooms.
Boundless forests, picturesque waterfalls and amazingly beautiful landscapes delight visitors to the park. Around it today there are several ski resorts visited by tourists from all over the world.
Cévennes
French National Park, whose name is well known to many residents of European countries. It is located in the Rhone Basin. It should be recognized that the French are able to protect nature and in the creation of national parks and reserves they managed to achieve excellent results.
Cévennes Park was founded to limit the negative impact of tourism. However, this does not mean that entry into its territory is prohibited - a lot of effort has been put into organizing tourism of the highest quality. Throughout the park there are commemorative signs and tablets that describe the rules for visiting. Their violation leads to a substantial fine - about 1, 500 euros.
The park's management encourages guests to enjoy the magnificent nature, to breathe in the crystal clear air with their full breasts, but not to ruin the park, which was created for people and to preserve all the most beautiful on our planet.
Por cro
What nature reserves and national parks of France do you know? Difficult to answer? Then we will introduce you to another one of them. Interestingly, located on the territory of the country, south-east of Toulon, the Port-Cro Park has become part of the Hyères Islands. It was created in 1963 to protect the nature of the Yersky Islands. Its area is 675 hectares, and together with the islands of Porkerol and Levan, it is included in the archipelago of the Golden Islands.
This is a real natural monument: its lands are almost untouched by man. The island is covered with dense forests. The park is intended for pedestrians and cyclists who travel on numerous tourist routes. Many scenic paths lead you to the reserved corners of the park - snow-white beaches, fragrant groves, fields of lavender and heather, destroyed fortresses and forts.
An interesting fact: in the distant past, the island played an important defensive role. The remains of the five forts testify to this. Travelers from all over the world come here to see them.
Pyrenees
An ideal example of nature reserves and national parks in France is located on the border with Spain, in the western Pyrenees a national park of the same name. By the variety of flora and fauna, it is recognized as one of the richest in the country: a thousand species of beetles, three hundred species of all kinds of butterflies, vultures and golden eagles, Pyrenean brown bears and lynxes, one hundred and fifty species of plants. And the symbol of this amazing park is the graceful Pyrenees chamois.
The park is inhabited by the Pyrenean desman. The French believe that meeting him is a great success. Of great interest to tourists are the historical attractions of these territories. Of course, this is the ancient center of the religious pilgrimage Lourdes, located almost in the center of the park, picturesque mountain villages and numerous fortresses.
Ekren
This national park is located in the French Alps. It contains about a hundred mountain peaks and more than forty glaciers, which are the pride of the park. They are smoothly replaced by plains and lakes. Alpine marmot, chamois and golden eagle live in the park.
Tourists can settle here in one of thirty shelters, and then go on an exciting walking tour of the park. By the way, the length of the trails here is about 750 kilometers.
Guadeloupe
This park covers an area of 173 km. sq. It was formed in 1989 on the island of Guadeloupe. The protected territories of the park occupy almost the entire island, mainly its central part. In addition, it is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Here, under strict protection is the rain mountain forest and the mountain ranges that it covers.
Guadeloupe National Park of France is recognized as the seventh largest in the country. Its history began almost half a century ago (1970), when on one of the largest islands of the archipelago, a natural park was created in the Basse-Terre area. Its attractions are mountains and rainforests.
The flora of the national park includes: rare species of orchids, mahogany, tree ferns, as well as hevea. In the east of the archipelago, you can see huge fields of sugarcane.
Guiana Amazonia
And this is the largest national park in France, which is located in French Guiana. Its area is 33.9 thousand square kilometers. The park was founded in early 2007. It is interesting that no roads lead to the park, you can get here only by air or by water.
The territory of the park is 20 300 square meters. km maximum protection: mining is prohibited here, including gold in river beds. The park is located in the natural zone of the rainforest.
Canals
French National Park Kalanqui is located in Corsica, five kilometers southwest of Porto. Numerous orange and pink cliffs, stretching along the seashore, rise 300 meters above the water, forming a magnificent landscape. In 1983, the park was listed as a (natural) UNESCO site. Numerous rock formations, mostly composed of granite, underwent erosion and acquired bizarre and intricate shapes.
Mercantour
Many reserves and national parks in France in a relatively short time became the largest in Europe. An example of this is the park located in the departments of the Alps of Haute Provence and the Alpes-Maritimes Mercantour park. It was founded in 1979 around the highest point in the region of Mount Zhela and the Mervay Valley. Today it is included in the list of historical monuments of the country. The park is located on an area of 685 square kilometers. About eight hundred thousand people visit it annually.
The park also included the Valley of Miracles, in which over forty thousand prehistoric petroglyphs were discovered. 240 km of well-planned hiking trails have been laid in the territory, and climbers can explore the rocks in the mountains of Monje, Bego, Mouton and Pelat.
Reunion
The park is located on Reunion Island. Its area is almost 1055 square meters. km Additionally, a security zone adjoins it (878 sq. Km). Reunion was founded in 2007 to protect the mountainous areas of the island.
Camargue Nature Reserve
The most famous nature reserve in France protects river channels, sea lagoons, swamps, lakes and landscape forests. It is home to more than 30 different species. The most common boars, hares and rabbits, hedgehogs and squirrels, ferrets and weasels, beavers. But the special pride of the reserve is the world of birds, numbering more than three hundred species. Amazingly, this is the only place in Europe where pink flamingos nest.
The park has a small settlement in which only 50 people live. They are engaged in fishing, agriculture and are engaged in tourism.
