As a member of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), I feel both encouraged and challenged by the recent expert input to the European Union on strict protection.
Encouraged, because Europe has committed itself to protecting at least 30% of its land and sea by 2030. Challenged, because what truly matters is not how much we protect on paper, but how well we protect in reality.
The WCPA input makes this unmistakably clear: strictly protected areas must be places where nature comes first, where ecosystems are allowed to function freely, largely undisturbed by human pressures, and where the integrity of life’s processes is restored and safeguarded.
For German national parks, such as “Jasmund”, which I recently visited, the motto has been created: “Leave nature to nature”
This is not a technical detail. It is a political and ethical choice.
Across Europe, and also in Norway, we often call areas “protected” without fully meeting these standards. National parks, in particular, should represent the highest level of protection – large, coherent landscapes where nature is given space, time, and freedom. Too often, this is not yet the case.
For me, this is not an abstract discussion. It is deeply personal.
Right at my doorstep lies Raet National Park in Arendal, a unique coastal landscape shaped by ice, sea, and time. My vision is that Raet can become Norway’s first truly “real” national park in the IUCN sense: a place where natural processes are allowed to unfold, where human use is carefully limited, and where future generations can experience nature in its full authenticity.
If we are serious about the global 30×30 goal, we must move beyond labels and towards integrity. We must dare to protect not only more, but better.
This is the essence of Vision 52: contributing to a future where nature is not just managed, but truly respected in the way to allow nature to be nature.