EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - UNESCO World Heritage

Preface
NATIONAL PARK PLAN 2008
Nature needs a plan!
What is a National Park? Which animals live here? Why are the beech trees so
valuable? And, how does the Kellerwald looks like in ten years? The development
plan for Kellerwald-Edersee National Park can answer these and many other
questions.
With all the enthusiasm for the beauty of our landscape, the uniqueness of many
animal and plant species or the fascinating insights which one can learn from a
ranger guide or a visit to the National Park Centre. Without a long-term designed
and marketable plan we cannot successfully develop such a complex project such
as a National Park these days. And thus we come along to this piece of work...
In less than three years preparation time a detailed monograph of the area and a
comprehensive, professionally underpinned plan has emerged. This was only
possible because even before the declaration of the National Park a multitude of
voluntary assistants were heavily involved in the area. A highly motivated team
collected all the existing results, sorted them, obtained more in addition and
developed a vision of a Kellerwald-Edersee National Park which should count
nationwide and internationally as one of the most significant protected areas.
The present plan defines, based on an analysis of the years 2006 and 2007, the
development objectives and strategies of the Kellerwald-Edersee National Park as
well as their implementation. The National Park Authority is responsible for this;
however, without close involvement with regional stakeholders and the
administrative and politically responsible bodies, development of this National Park
would remain an incomplete work of art.
The editorial team has succeeded in working together on what are, to some extent,
difficult professional and speciality subjects and to present it in a clear and
understandable way for everyone. In this unique format, the work can be used for
the reasons that it was written for: as operational guidelines for National Park
employees, as a clear, transparent basis for the regional development for citizens of
the National Park region, as well as a basis for decisions for all socially and
politically relevant institutions. But it is also a unique data source for scientists and
planners. And thus it becomes clear whilst reading this work that although this
fascination wilderness certainly originates without our intervention, without a
functioning National Park management using a good plan it would have no chance
of survival and would remain a secret.
The plan is here. Now it is up to us, you and many other decision makers to
preserve the wild nature in Kellerwald-Edersee National Park for our own enjoyment
and for that of future generations.
Peter Gaffert – National Park Director
Bad Wildungen, June 2008