Nord Zealand Region

Partner's profile

The Danish Forest and Nature Agency, North Zealand (DFNA, NZ) is a State Forest District under the Danish Ministry of Environment overseeing 6 local forest districts. DFNA, NZ operates at the regional level covering all of North Zealand, Greater Copenhagen, Odsherred and the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. The responsibilities of DFNA, NZ includes the management of forests, conservation of nature, forest based outdoor recreation, and nature-tourism interests. This includes cooperation and dialogue with other government institutions, organisations, NGOs, local communities and others. The DFNA in North Zealand is also the location of one of the first national parks in Denmark, the "Royal North Zealand National Park" and intensely involved in the preparations.

Partner's experience in the field of sustainable tourism

Tourism is becoming increasingly important for DFNA, NZ, both in terms of its economic importance and due to its impact on the territory. As an upcoming National Park, the importance of ensuring a sustainable tourism development is becoming more evident. DFNA, NZ's concentrated mass of forest and nature areas and many ongoing projects means that is will be able to contribute significantly to the ERNEST project with relevant experiences. Most of the activities of DFNA, NZ closely link environmental sustainability with tourism. Many projects are carried out to ensure better water quality and nature conditions while at the same time improving the recreational and tourism experiences. With a densely populated region of approx. 2 million inhabitants and 13.6 million registered tourism overnight stays per year, a sustainable balance of environmental, social, and economic aspects of tourism is important. A new national tourism strategy focuses on a more sustainable development of tourism in the coming years.