One of the priorities of a National Park is to protect the environmental integrity of its habitats and their corresponding fauna and flora - in the interests both of today's and of tomorrow's generations.

Thus the responsibilities that go with managing the natural environment in the Gesaeuse National Park are clearly defined. They are: to protect natural ecosystems, to preserve biodiversity and, consequently, to facilitate and guarantee natural development, to the greatest possible extent.

The protection of species does not only apply to the present population. The 'Biodiversity Protection Project' also willingly gives a home to species that can no longer be found or that are locally extinct. The very basis of the protection of biodiversity and biotopes is to secure the natural cycles and the dynamics of the ecosystem.

The area of the National Park is made up of two zones, the Natural Zone and the Conservation Zone.

The conservation area, on the other hand, serves to preserve the man-made landscape. As, for example, the National Park's alpine pastures show, this contributes greatly not only to a diversified landscape but also to biodiversity. The positive interaction between nature and farming, and between mankind and environment, should be highlighted here. In this zone people looking for recreational opportunities should be assisted towards the twin goals of gaining experience of nature and getting to know nature.

The area along the Enns is not only the National Park's 'lifeline'; this is also where the main 'traffic line' runs. A plan for the sensitive routing of visitors through this area needs to be developed. For the future the preservation of the natural cycles of the river should be a priority - after all they are a matter of life and death for the numerous endangered and rare species that can still be found here.

In so far as is consistent with human safety and the maintenance of the infrastructure, the general principle when dealing with loose gravel and detritus is that the authentic dynamics of debris-filled grabens, such as those at Langgries and the Weissenbach, should be preserved and guaranteed to the greatest possible extent.

Research and long-term observation are the fundamental principles underpinning all the tasks that the National Park has set itself. The rich array of conservation projects should ensure that the development of the Gesaeuse National Park is compatible with the interests of nature as well as of the people who live and work there.