ABSTRACT
Legislative protection of nature is a modern phenomenon linked to the legitimation of the nation state from the end of the nineteenth century. In this national and nationalistic discourse the launching of preserved nature associated the territory of the state with a politically defined nation state based on the power of a unified people. One way of preserving the long-term history of the nation was to establish national parks. It was the ultimate way of linking the territory of the nation state with the sacred feeling of the nation. The use of preserved nature had to be defined in relation to various ethnic groups and their history in the making of the nation state.
