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Protected area categories are simple techniques to identify different types of protected areas based on objectives (International Union for the Conservation of Nature- IUCN, 2012). This could be seen from table one with six different categories of protected areas.

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Table 1 Categorising Protected Areas

Categories Purpose

I a Strict nature reserve

b Wilderness area

II National Park

III Natural Monument or Feature

IV Habitat/Species Management Area

V Protected Landscape/ Seascape

VI Protected area with sustainable use of natural resources

Source: Adapted from IUCN (2012) According to the IUCN‟s scheme, category I systems are primarily meant for conserving regionally, nationally or globally outstanding ecosystems, species (occurrences or aggregations) and/ or geodiversity features. These attributes will have been formed mostly or entirely by non-human forces and will be degraded or destroyed when subjected to all but very light human impact. This category is mostly related to wilderness areas and its characteristics are not related to parks in Luxembourg.

Category II protected areas have as objectives; to protect natural biodiversity along with underlying ecological structures and supporting environmental processes, and to promote education and recreation. Areas in this category are typically large, reducing the possibility of Luxembourgish parks to fall under this scheme even though similar characteristics exist. Most national parks fall within this framework, including certain Nature Parks. This category goes again to highlight the importance of objective and characteristics in setting up protected areas. Note that it is difficult to provide cross-references for comparing the largeness of protected areas because of the variation of protected area legislation among countries in Europe.

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However, it is certain that a 5,000 hectare Nature Park in Luxembourg is smaller than a 20,000 hectare park in Germany or France.

Category III protected areas are set aside to protect a specific natural monument, be it landforms, sea mount, submarine cavern, geological features (such as a cave), or even a living feature (such as an ancient grove). Generally, these are quite small protected areas, which often have high visitor value. The primary goal of this category is to protect specific outstanding natural features and their associated biodiversity and habitats. Like categories one and two, parks in Luxembourg are not also part of this classification.

Besides, Category IV is considered habitat management area. These areas are meant for conserving and restoring species and habitat. This is similar to the other groups mentioned above. Category V system is perhaps the most quickly developing of any protected area management approaches (IUCN, 2012). This is because it seeks to maintain current development practices, restore historical management systems or, perhaps maintain key landscape values whilst accommodating contemporary development and change.Nature Parks in Luxembourg relate to these in that, these are considered vital zones for maintaining direct and indirect connections of traditional and modern development strategies that could contribute to sustainable development in rural areas. Nevertheless, these aims might not be realistic if appropriate methods for managing ecosystem services are not applied (IUCN, 2012). It is, therefore, important to confirm such general assertions by using specific cases with multiple techniques for natural resource management. This will go a long way to appreciating the meaning of Nature Parks as instruments of regional development in Luxembourg.

Also, protected areas under category V are encouraging the interaction of people and nature over time, leading to an area of distinct character with significant values (IUCN, 2012). As

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such, safeguarding the integrity of this interaction is vital for protecting and sustaining the area. The primary objective of this category is to combine protection and development through a mix of modern and traditional practices. Consequently, areas of this kind are supposed to provide opportunities for socio-economic activities and also acting as models of sustainability so that lessons can be learnt for wider application. This is central to the research idea, which strives to analyse the modifications brought about by Nature Parks, which could spearhead innovative ideas for the development of other areas with similar characteristics.

The sixth and final category is protected areas with the sustainable use of natural resources. They are usually very large and meant to protect natural ecosystems and use natural resources sustainably when conservation and sustainable use can be mutually beneficial. Other objectives of this category are;

- To promote sustainable use of natural resources, considering ecological, economic and social dimensions

- Promote social and economic benefits to local communities where relevant; facilitate inter-generational security for local communities‟ livelihoods and ensuring that such livelihoods are sustainable

- Contribute to developing and/or maintaining a more balanced relationship between humans and the rest of nature.

- Contribute to sustainable development at national, regional and local level

- Facilitate scientific research and environmental monitoring, mainly related to the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources

- Collaborate in the delivery of benefits to people, mostly local communities, living in or near to the designated protected area.

It is important to note that, concepts of protected area are changing due to structural changes affecting most rural areas. Consequently, protected area categories are liable to witness

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spatiotemporal variations. According to the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA, 2013), Nature Parks in Luxembourg fall within Category II of the IUCN classification system. That is large protected areas with objectives to protect natural biodiversity along with underlying ecological structures, support environmental processes and promote education and recreation (IUCN, 2012). Without contradicting this allusion, another argument put forth by IUCN (2012), made it clear that the boundaries between what is regarded and managed as, one category may change over time. Moreover, for the fact that Luxembourg‟s parks are not large (between 183 and 306 km2) in the literary sense of IUCN group two and based on present objectives for the development of these areas, the research considers categorising parks in Luxembourg within type V, although with certain features of type VI.

At the beginning of the first chapter, ecosystem services were described as the building blocks of any natural system, including parks in Luxembourg. As such, a description about the different ecosystem services found in these areas will increase understanding on the role of parks in regional development.