European Day of Parks 2026 - Connected by Nature
All of us need connections, to grow, live and learn: our Protected Areas are no different. Healthy ecosystems don’t exist in isolation: they thrive only when ecological connections are in place — wildlife corridors, linked habitats, and landscapes that allow species to move, adapt and flourish. These connections often go beyond the borders of any single Protected Area. To nurture nature, we need to think across boundaries, restore linkages, build ecological networks, and create partnerships that unite people, communities, and nature. In 2026, for the European Day of Parks (EDoP), we invite you to celebrate and strengthen these connection lifelines on and around the 24th of May. Let’s work together — Protected Areas, local communities, policymakers, visitors — to imagine and build a future where our landscapes are not fragmented, but truly connected by nature.
The importance of ecological connectivity
Every day, humans move. We travel to work. We cross bridges. We drive through tunnels carved into mountains. We follow roads that connect us to opportunity, to food, to family, to adventure. Our world is built on connection - and we depend on it. Now imagine if those connections disappeared. For wildlife across Europe, this is not imagination: it is reality. Forests are divided by highways. Rivers are interrupted by dams. Meadows are replaced by concrete. In the worst cases, what was once a living, breathing network of habitats has become a patchwork of isolated fragments. Animals searching for food, shelter, or mates often find barriers instead of pathways. Plants struggle to spread. Ecosystems grow weaker. This is where Protected Areas make a difference. These spaces fulfill the essential role of conserving and restoring nature. Creating natural corridors is an important part of this work. Across Europe, Protected Areas are involved in large-scale projects that strengthen ecological connectivity. The results are encouraging: over 70% of Protected Areas in Europe are well connected.
Ecological connectivity ensures that our natural spaces are stronger and more resilient to pressures and change.
By restoring rivers, reconnecting forests, creating wildlife corridors, and working across borders, Protected Areas help knit the landscape back together. They transform isolated patches into living networks once again. That is exactly what we are celebrating this European Day of Parks!
Policy & Ecological Connectivity
As the wider European landscape is highly fragmented, it is here that connectivity is most important. Different European and global targets focus on the need to increase ecological connectivity:
- The EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2030 aims to create a resilient ‘Trans-European Nature Network’ (TEN-N). Learn more about this initiative under ‘EUROPARC and ecological connectivity’ below.
- The EU Nature Restoration Regulation contains specific targets on terrestrial and river connectivity, especially focussing on Natura 2000: the largest coordinated network of Protected Areas in the world.
- Target 3 under the Global Biodiversity Framework proclaims the need to protect 30% of the earth’s surface, and ensure that these spaces are effectively conserved and well-connected.
These policy priorities send a powerful message: protecting nature is not enough. We must reconnect it. Protected Areas are at the heart of this transformation. They are the building blocks of Europe’s ecological networks. Through cross-border cooperation, habitat restoration, corridor creation, and long-term stewardship, Protected Areas are turning policy ambition into practical action on the ground. For the 2026 European Day of Parks, let us shine a spotlight on this work! Let us not just celebrate the places we protect, but the connections that make them stronger.
Photo: Kobuleti Protected Area, Georgia, by Agency of Protected Areas of Georgia.
How can you celebrate this European Day of Parks?
The European Day of Parks is THE day to celebrate Europe’s Parks and Protected Areas! For those working in Protected Areas, this year offers a special chance to highlight how your site contributes to reconnecting nature: from restoring habitats to building wildlife corridors and collaborating across borders, your work brings Europe’s ecological networks to life. Here are some ideas for events and activities focused on connectivity to help you celebrate and inspire your communities. Whatever you organise, be sure to register it on the EUROPARC website!
In your Park
Connect the dots. Showcase how wildlife moves through the landscape through a guided connectivity walk - for example:
- Visit corridors, riverbanks, forest patches, hedgerows, overpasses
- Show barriers (roads, fences, urban sprawl)
- Use before/after photos of restoration projects
- Include a wildlife tracking demonstration
💡 Add a simple map participants can stamp along the route to visualise connections!
Show the missing piece In your visitor centre, create a large ground puzzle or modular map showing:
- Core Protected Areas
- Buffer zones
- Ecological corridors
- Fragmented zones
Visitors can help finalise the map by adding the missing corridor pieces, supporting a discussion on what is needed to reconnect habitats.
Follow the trail Choose a species that is iconic to your Protected Area and showcase how they move, and what is stopping them. Do you have GPS tracking maps? Now is a great time to show them! At stations along a trail:
- Tell the species’ movement story - where are they going and why?
- Show GPS tracking maps or camera trap movements
- Explain what blocks them
- Highlight solutions
💡Is your Protected Area near an eco bridge? Make this part of the trail and showcase collected data to visualise the power of ecological connectivity!
Working with young people
Does your Protected Area have a EUROPARC Junior Ranger Programme? Or are you working with local schools? Here are some activities specifically for them! Build a Corridor Workshop Students or Junior Rangers:
- Design mini-landscapes in boxes
- Add habitat patches
- Identify barriers
- Propose wildlife crossings - let them get creative!
Wildlife Movement Simulation Game
Outdoor role-play:
- Some children are animals
- Others are roads, cities, fences
- Others are corridors
Add/remove barriers to demonstrate:
- How fragmentation affects survival
- Why connectivity increases resilience
Green Your Life!
- Encourage schools to make their gardens and green spaces greener and more eco-friendly
- Involve the students in planting native species
Involve your community The European Day of Parks is also a great opportunity to showcase how people can support nature inside and outside Protected Areas. Organise activities or an awareness raising event to encourage:
- Local residents to plant native species
- Participation in restoration activities
Get creative!
Protected Area managers: EDoP is for you! Organise an event that best suits your Park and community. No matter what you organise it, be sure to register it on the EUROPARC website to demonstrate that every Park is part of a larger network taking care of Europe’s nature.
Are you working on Ecological Connectivity?
We would love to hear from you! Submit a case study to the EUROPARC Knowledge Hub and, if selected, we can promote your work in the framework of the European Day of Parks!
EUROPARC & Ecological Connectivity
The EUROPARC Federation recognises the crucial importance of well-connected Protected Areas. Across Europe, our members are creating connections, ecological and social, to help our natural heritage thrive. Here are some initiatives we are involved in to support their work:
Transboundary Parks Programme
Did you know? On average, 50% of Europe’s borders are covered by Protected Areas! That is why ensuring that managing bodies across borders are working together effectively is essential to safeguard the best results for nature and people. EUROPARC’s Transboundary Parks Programme is designed to support these processes. It is the only certification scheme focused on European cross-border Protected Area cooperation. Currently, the programme supports the connections between 21 Parks and 13 countries, resulting in better, more connected, nature across Europe. Will you join us?
Horizon Europe NaturaConnect
To support this work, the EUROPARC Federation is a partner in the Horizon Europe NaturaConnect project. The project aims to support countries in designing and developing a blueprint for a truly coherent Trans-European Nature Network (TEN-N) of conserved areas that protect at least 30% of land in the European Union, with at least one third of it under strict protection. Learn more in the video:
Partnerships for Nature
EUROPARC also connects with other organisations to strengthen our network. Our active partnership with Rewilding Europe demonstrates how ecological connectivity plays a key role in helping nature recover. Through their 11 Rewilding Landscapes, Rewilding Europe showcases how trusting nature to lead its own recovery can reconnect people and nature to the benefit of both. Within our partnership, we are exploring how Rewilding Principles can be applied in Protected Areas.
Join the special EDoP webinar!
You will have the opportunity to learn more about both our partnership with Rewilding Europe, as well as the NaturaConnect project through a jointly organised webinar on 22 May, as part of our celebrations for the European Day of Parks. The full programme and registration will be announced soon. Watch this space!
Promotion
The official EDoP 2026 logo is already available in many European languages. You can download it here! Is your language missing? No problem, just send an email to communications@europarc.org with the translation, and we will create it.
Let's make some noise!
The European Day of Parks is all about getting people out into nature and promoting Europe’s Protected Areas. However, we cannot underestimate the power of social media. On and around the 24th of May, showcase how your Park is working on ecological connectivity and use social media to inspire sustainable practices. Highlight how we can be and are all Connected by Nature and make a lasting impact! EUROPARC will create a special Social Media pack available one month before the event.
Be sure to tag the EUROPARC Federation!
- Facebook: @EUROPARC;
- Instagram: @EUROPARC_Federation;
- LinkedIn: @EUROPARC Federation
- #EDoP2026 #EuropeanDayofParks
About the European Day of Parks
The European Day of Parks is organised every year on the 24th of May by the EUROPARC Federation. On and around this date, Parks and Protected Areas come together across Europe to celebrate their successes and declare the value and benefits of Europe’s Protected Areas to communities, decision-makers and the wider public.
This commemorative day was launched in 1999 by the EUROPARC Federation. It celebrates the creation of the first National Parks in Europe – a set of nine parks created in Sweden in 1909.
Credits:
Created by the EUROPARC Federation for the European Day of Parks 2026.