Luxembourg has the highest percentage of designated nature space in Europe – 76% of land is protected. Slovenia (72%) and Malta (65%) have the second and third largest protected terrestrial areas.
2020 was the year of staycations and learning to love the nature that’s around you – The New York Times recently reported a surge of European nature lovers visiting protected areas for the first time. But which country does the best job at protecting their natural sites?
SaveOnEnergy.com/uk analysed almost 80,000 nationally protected terrestrial areas in Europe, calculating the percentage of protected space per country, to discover who makes the biggest attempt to preserve their natural terrene.
Which country has the highest percentage of protected terrestrial areas?
Thanks to protected sites such as Geopark Mëllerdall and Naturpark Our, SaveOnEnergy.com/uk can reveal that Luxembourg is the European country with the highest percentage of protected land (76%). Luxembourg is one of the smallest countries in Europe (2,586 km 2 ) and is home to just 134 designated areas, but with these areas covering 1,963 km 2 they take first place.
In second place is Slovenia, with 72% of their country’s nature being protected, the country has a whopping 1,891 designated areas.
Malta has the third-highest percentage of protected terrestrial land in Europe! Covering 65% of their land, there are 250 sites for locals to enjoy such as Għar Dalam cave, Maqluba and Mdina.
Cyprus (57 designated areas) and Liechtenstein (44 designated areas) place fourth and fifth, as 56% and 45% of their country’s land is protected by legislation.
Top complete the top 10 countries with the highest percentage of protected terrestrial land:
6. Netherlands: 44%
7. United Kingdom: 36%
8. Austria: 33%
9. Poland: 33%
10. Germany: 31%
Which country has the lowest percentage of protected terrestrial areas?
At just 4%, SaveOnEnergy found that Bosnia and Herzegovina is the country with the smallest percentage ofprotected nature in Europe. Although there are 40 designated sites, they only cover 1,922 km 2 of the country’s 192,232 km 2 land.
Protecting just 6% of their terrestrial land, Romania places second to last. Despite having many designated areas, such as Dealul Zackel and Cindrel, they aren’t widely spread across the country. Completing the bottom five are Serbia, Belgium and Portugal, with just 7%, 8% and 9% of their land protected respectively.
Which country has the largest number of protected terrestrial areas?
Germany is home to the most designated terrestrial land! With a whopping 17,654 areas, they top the ranks. Sweden places in second as 15,254 areas have been protected by legislation in the country. Following in third, fourth and fifth position are Switzerland with 10,423, the United Kingdom with 9,032 and France with 3,812.
On the other end, SaveOnEnergy.com/uk found that Bosnia and Herzegovina is the country with the smallest number of protected sites – 40. They are followed by Liechtenstein (44), Montenegro (54) and Cyprus (57).
Tatiana is the news coordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes monitoring the hundreds of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skimming the most important according to our strategy.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
