Introduction

This chapter focuses on the implications of scientific debates in five thematic areas relevant in the context: national parks, communities, place attachment, rewilding, and tourism in protected areas. The multiple purposes afforded by such territories are reflected in their widely accepted international definition provided by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The process of formulating standardized international guidelines in the domain dates back to the 1930s, where it received attention at events such as the London Convention in 1933 and the Western Hemisphere Convention in 1940. The importance of visitors to protected areas can be traced back to the romantic strive to modernize' cities during the industrial revolutions that engulfed western Europe in the nineteenth century, with the aim of offering an alternative to the smokestacks of the industrializing economy. Mid-range estimates of the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) have shown that approximately 168,000 km of farmland abandoned by 2030 in the European Union (EU).