Aregional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form oflocal government.
A regional park can be a special park district covering a region crossing several jurisdiction boundaries, or a park system of a single jurisdiction, such as a province, county, or city.
There are 101 regional parks in Saskatchewan. All parks are operated by volunteer boards.
Regional parks in Italy are administered by eachregion in Italy, a government unit like a U.S. state.
Distinguished fromNational Parks in the Republic of Ireland, which are owned and run centrally by the state'sNational Parks and Wildlife Service, Ireland's regional parks are managed and operated by individuallocal authorities in Ireland.[1] Examples include Ballincollig Regional Park (managed byCork City Council),[2] Millennium Regional Park (Fingal County Council),[3] and Malahide Demesne Regional Park (also Fingal County Council).[4]
A law to establish regional parks in Lithuania took effect in 1992.[5] As of 2022, there were 30 such regional parks (regioniniai parkai).[6]
InNew Zealand, regional parks are administered byregional councils rather than theDepartment of Conservation orterritorial authorities.
In the United States, a regional park is sometimes referred to as a 'Metropolitan Park (Metropark)' or as anopen space reserve. The termsregion andmetropolitan can have different meanings in U.S. local government agencies. Regional parks can be administered by a regional park board, astate,county or other units oflocal government. A special authority can be set up, under the joint jurisdiction of two or more government bodies or as an independent park district to administer parks. Individual parks may or may not cross governmental boundaries. The park district holds the authority, similar to fire protection districts, to manage and raise taxes to cover park acquisition and management costs.
Examples of large regional park systems are theCleveland Metroparks in Northeast Ohio,Huron-Clinton Metroparks in SoutheastMichigan; and theThree Rivers Park District inMinnesota. In Ohio, underOhio Revised Code Chapter 1545, metroparks such as the Cleveland Metroparks Park District,Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks have their own Police Departments withsworn police officers. TheToledo Metroparks, andDaytonFive Rivers Metroparks are also in the state.
TheEast Bay Regional Park District andMidpeninsula Regional Open Space District have extensive parklands in theSan Francisco Bay Area, protecting habitat and offering recreation.
InScotland, regional parks are defined to co-ordinate the management of areas of attractive countryside that are of importance for recreation due to their proximity to population centres. The parks have been defined and are managed bylocal authorities. As of 2018, Scotland had three regional parks:[7]
Northern Ireland Lagan Valley Regional Park
Media related toRegional parks at Wikimedia Commons