Democracy and sustainability –: A challenge to modern nature conservation

In order to gain support from the local population and to fulfil international obligations regarding nature conservation, several countries in the western world have been forced to experiment with the democratization of nature conservation. In countries like Denmark, Sweden and Norway the effort to democratize nature conservation has been strengthen in the development and management of national parks. This paper focuses on the present development of national parks in Denmark and draws some early lessons from the process. The paper is based on an examination of the process that has taken place during the last two years as well as interviews of a wide variety of actors representing the people working within the public administration at central, regional and local levels, as well as politicians, NGO’s and local citizens. The conclusion of the paper is that a more inclusive and participatory approach to nature conservation is setting a new agenda with more emphasis on sustainability than preservation. It thereby challenges the traditional agenda of nature conservation. The public administrations at central, regional and local level, as well as most nature conservation organisations at central level, do not seem ready and capable of handling this challenge.