Danish National Parks

Denmark and the US have a different way in approaching national parks. Firstly, both countries have very different landscapes. Many of the US's national parks have drastic landscapes while Denmark, as a whole, is a very flat country, thus not having land formations that are as dramatic and contoured.

The US and Denmark have two very different philosophies on how to preserve nature. The focus of the Danish National Parks is to develop biodiversity even at the cost of reintroducing species of animals and trees. The US national parks tend to try to preserve what nature exists and try not to add anything new. What both of these philosophies include is an overriding principle that greenspaces are manufactured. Man has drawn the border of greenspaces, even though we associate these greenspaces with wilderness, untamed nature, they are very much produced by man.

Also, Denmark's national parks are extremely new. The plan to create them started in the early 2000s. In contrast, many parks in the US were created in the late 1800s. The US has had the infustructcture for parks for a decades. US conservation efforts are also easier to support because they are done on a larger scale in a larger country meaning that there are more volunteers, while Denmark's efforts are relatively new and have not built up a comprehensive support yet. Since the parks are so new, Denmark is trying to get farmers in the surrounding area to participate with the parks but they are receiving some resistance.

Both the US’s and Demark’s national parks serve as tourist attractions. Denmark has bike path and spots of camping and camp fires. These laws seems to be a little more relaxed with the US law and regulations. Denmark is trying to cultivate different activities for tourists to do to create an appealing destination to visit.