Yellowstone, USA - The World's First National Park (416/418)

Yellowstone, USA - The World's First National Park (416/418)

Yellowstone, USA - The first national park in the world, established 1872. With hundreds of geysers, thousands of thermal springs and an almost incomparable wealth of flora and fauna, it is most certainly the most diverse World Heritage Site in the USA. The park also documents how much our concepts of nature and landscape protection have changed in the last 150 years. When it was founded, the purpose of the park was to serve the wellbeing and enjoyment of people exclusively and so hunting was permitted. It was not until 1883, i.e. ten years later, that it was banned.

By this time, hunters and poachers had eradicated all the wolves and shot almost all of the bison. The animals have since been reintroduced to the park but it has been a lengthy process. The restoration of the wolves and bison herds is one of the greatest success stories of the American conservation movement. Today the aim of the park administration is to let the natural environment and all the animals in the park have free rein. In 1976 UNESCO awarded the park the status of an International Biosphere Reserve and in 1978 it was named a World Heritage Site.