ABSTRACT
In 1903, the president of the US, Theodore Roosevelt, dedicated a monument on which is written: ‘For the benefit and enjoyment of the people – Yellowstone National Park, created by an Act of Congress, March 1, 1872’. Thus was born the modern concept of a national park. Managed by national agencies, national parks are set aside for the benefit of people, and their importance has been repeatedly emphasized by such landmark events as the London Convention of 1933, which also defined the purpose of national parks, 1 and more recently by criteria established through the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). National parks are seen as the cornerstone of the world's conservation efforts, with a target that each nation sets aside 10 per cent of its land in this manner.
