Wilderness Protection in Europe

Europe still retains large areas which play host to numerous native and free-functioning ecosystems and lack roads, buildings, bridges, cables and other permanent manifestations of modern society. In the past such areas were considered wastelands, whose value lay only in their potential for cultivation and economic exploitation. Today, these wilderness areas are increasingly cherished as places for rest and recreation, and as important areas for scientific research, biodiversity conservation and the mitigation of and adaptation to certain climate change effects. This book provides the first major appraisal of the role of international, European and domestic law in protecting the remaining wilderness areas and their distinguishing qualities in Europe. It also highlights the lessons that can be learned from the various international, regional and national approaches, identifies obstacles to wilderness protection in Europe and considers whether and how the legal protection of wilderness can be further advanced.

Author Biography

Kees Bastmeijer is Professor of Nature Conservation and Water Law at Universiteit van Tilburg, The Netherlands, and a visiting professor at the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. His research focuses on the role of international, European, and domestic law in protecting nature, with a particular interest in nature conservation in the Polar Regions, relationships between law and philosophical human-nature attitudes, property rights and nature, and the role of law in protecting wilderness.