Outline:

I. Thesis Sentence
II. Preface
III. National Parks
1) British National Parks: Ownership and Funding
2) Slovak National Parks: Ownership and Funding
IV. Comparison of The Lake District National Park and The Tatras National Park
1) The Lake District national Park
2) The Tatras National park
3) Comparison
V. Conclusion
VI. Used Literature

National Parks In Britain and Slovakia.

I. Thesis Sentence:
First, I will focus on the national parks in general, trying to describe in what way they are funded and who are the owners of these lands. Then I will try to do the same with two concrete national parks – The Lake District National park and The Tatras National Park - plus, I will try to compare them by using information I found.

II. Preface:
National parks are real jewels of Nature, treasures of the nation and pride of the country. They compromise an uncountable amount of natural values and beauties. Each and every among the national parks has its own atmosphere, its characteristic features given by the geographic location, genesis of its territory, geology, climatic conditions and specific stands of flora and fauna. Nature in national parks remains untouched. It has been developing for thousands of years in its set rhythm and only in some limited places it has been marked by man’s activities from times immemorial. In other words, national parks are territories of larger areas with original nature or nature being little changed by human interventions. They have an extraordinary cultural-scientific significance and are important from climatic, water-economy and health viewpoints, serving as information and recreation for people.
The main objective of national parks is to ensure protection to the most important natural heritage of natural landscape settings for present and future generations. Therefore, their preservation has become the interest of all the people.

III. National parks:
1) British National Parks:
The system of national parks is still not completed and there are new candidates among the protected landscape areas. But currently there are 7 national parks in England, which with the Broads, cover around 7.6% of the landscape.

These national parks are:
• Dartmoor (Designated - 1951)
• Exmoor (Designated - 1954)
• Lake District (Designated - 1951)
• Northumberland (Designated - 1956)
• North York Moors (Designated - 1952)
• Peak District (Designated - 1951)
• Yorkshire Dales (Designated - 1954)
• The Broads (Designated - 1989)
There are also 3 National Parks in Wales:
• Brecon Beacons (Designated - 1957)
• Pembrokeshire Coast (Designated - 1952)
• Snowdonia (Designated - 1951)
a) Ownership:
The name national park does not signify national ownership. Most of the land in national parks is in the hands of farmers and other private landowners. Some areas are managed by public bodies such as the Forestry Commission, the National Park Authorities or English Nature and some are managed by voluntary conservation organisations such as the National Trust.
Each national park is managed by its own National Park Authority, provided for under the Environment Act 1995. National Park Authorities are freestanding within the local government framework and are the sole local and mineral planning authority for their area. They prepare their own local plans and deal with all aspects of development control. Planning policies and decisions must give great weight to conservation of the natural beauty of the countryside, and major development should not take place save in exceptional circumstances.
b) Funding:
75% of the funding for the National Park Authorities comes from central Government with the remaining 25% coming via local authorities, through the Revenue Support Grant. National Park Authorities also take advantage, where possible, of Lottery and European grants and take part in collaborative projects, considerably enhancing the level of funding available.
In financial year 2001/2002, the Authorities will receive a total of Ł20.94 million in direct grant (National Park Grant and Broads Authority Grant).

2) Slovak National Parks:
In Slovakia, there are currently 7 national parks:
• The Tatras National Park (Designated – 1949)
• The Pieniny National Park (Designated – 1967)
• The Lower Tatras National Park (Designated – 1978)
• The Slovak Paradise national Park
• The Lesser Fatra National Park
• The Muran Plain National Park (Designated – 1997)
• The Poloniny National Park (Designated – 1997)
a) Ownership:
The state owns the largest part of the area of the national parks. Other parts of the land are in property of private proprietors, communities and different organisations.
b) Funding:
Slovak national parks are mostly funded by the central Government and by local authorities.

IV. Comparison of the Tatras National Park and The Lake District National Park:
1) The Lake District National Park was created under the provisions of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 and came into being on the 15 August 1951. Covering 880 square miles, it is the largest, most spectacular and most visited of Britain's 11 National Parks.

The boundary of the Lake District National
Park, which encloses one third of the County of Cumbria and extends from Caldbeck in the north to Lindale in the south, from Ravenglass in the west to Shap in the east, has not changed since 1951. Its local government body - The Lake District National Park Authority (NPA) – has two main purposes: 1) to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the national park; and
2) to promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of the national park by the public
The NPA does not own all the land within the national park. It owns approximately 3.9% of the land with the remainder being in the hands of other agencies such as the National Trust, North West Water, Forest Enterprise, and a vast range of private landowners.
The greater part of the Authority's expenditure is financed by central government. A grant from the Department of the Environment accounts for 75% of the NPA's expenditure net of income generated from its own sources, such as car park fees and sale of literature at Information Centres. The remaining 25% come from Cumbria County Council.
Income generation can be difficult to estimate so expenditure must be monitored and controlled carefully. Some expenditure is difficult to reduce; staff salaries, rates, heat and lighting (fixed costs), whereas others can be reduced if required; maintenance, marketing and equipment (variable costs).
In the years 1998/99, the main source of income was from: Car park fees - £95,000, Shop - £135,500, Café - £180,000, Events - £1,000, External rents and service charges - £18,170, Internal rents and service charges - £18,930, Cruises - £1,700, Games lawn - £3,000, Room hire - £500, Miscellaneous - £2,000, totally £455,800.
The quality of the landscape and scenery is the reason why most visitors come to the Lake District and it is the factor most important to their visit. The visitors have also other reasons why to visit this national park. One of the reason is that they enjoyed a previous visit mainly because of the peace and quiet which can be found in the whole territory or it have been recommended by friends and relatives to those who have not been here before. Outdoor activities and specific events that take part here every year also attract many of them.
The Lake District National Park Authority organises an annual programme of over 700 events, suitable for all ages and abilities. A publication giving details of these events is produced annually.

Events such as Guided Walks, Sea and Mountain Rescue Courses, Cruises and Forest Activity Days take place throughout the national park.

2) The Tatras National Park was founded as the first large-scale protected territory in Czechoslovakia as early as 1948. It covers a part of the territory of the Western Tatras, Rohace Mts., as well as the High and the Belianske Tatras. The park's area is 741 square kilometres. The state owns 54,1% of the land, private proprietors 2,4%, communal property 9,8% and different organisations 33,7%.
The state provides for particular protection of important areas, natural formations, scenic wonders as well as sparse plant and animal species, minerals and fossils by protecting them and also by outlining methods and conditions of this protection. Its local government body - The Tatras National Park Authority – has many purposes, for example: 1) to protect the land and species, to concern with ecosystems, biological diversion and ecological stability, rivers and lakes;
2) to create conditions for informational and educational activities concerned with the protection of the land;
3) to take professional control over the realisation of projects and plans; etc.
Nature of Tatras National Park with its biological and aesthetic values offers conditions particularly suitable for recreation, travelling and tourism. Institutions founded here like the Museum and Exposition of Tatran Nature, which feature exhibits describing the region's natural history and ethnography, are the source of many useful information to the visitors.
The Tatras National Park offers a great opportunity for hiking, mountain climbing, skiing, bicycle riding, parachuting and paragliding.
3) Comparison: It was very difficult to get some information about the Slovak national parks. In the libraries, the books concerning this topic were usually from the 50’s or 60’s; it means that they were mostly useless. The internet sites provided only minimum of needed information and were usually describing only the beauties of the nature, activities and events, but very briefly. Speaking about the internet sites of the British national parks, it was something different.

These sites provided maximum of information not only about the beauties of the nature, activities or events, but also about their history, local authorities (and their meetings), financing, ownership, strategies, plans etc., so I downloaded a lot of useful information and built a good basis for the further work.
The Lake District National park covers much larger area than The Tatras National Park but we can say that they have at least one thing in common: they are probably the most visited parks in these two countries. Every year the tourists come here to see their splendid nature, to find a peace and to have a rest. Both parks give the tourists many occasions how to spend time there. Many festivals and other events are organised there during the whole year, tourists can also join other activities like mountain climbing, skiing, bicycle riding and many more. The local government bodies of these national parks have very similar purposes and I think that they are trying to do the best to attract as many visitors as possible and in the same time to protect the area against the devastation.

V. Conclusion: It seems that The Lake District National Park and The Tatras National Park have many things in common. There are also some differences but I could not find many of them because of the small amount of information that can be found about the Slovak national parks.

VI. Used Literature:
D. Janota, M. Tesak, I. Voloscuk - Krásy a vzácnosti slovenskej prírody, Osveta
S. Mihalik a kol. – Chránené územia a prírodné výtvory, Príroda

www.seps.sk
www.defra.gov.uk
www.lake-district.gov.uk
www.tanap.sk

tomas mihalciak.

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National parks In Britain And Slovakia