Associated beneficiary
The Organismo Autónomo Parques Nacionales (OAPN) is a public organism, dependent on the Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico.
It was created on 23 June 1995 by merging the Instituto Nacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (ICONA) and the Instituto Nacional de Reforma y Desarrollo Agrario (IRYDA).
Its main work lines are:
It is responsible for the coordination, projection and promotion of the National Parks Network.
It also oversees the application in Spain of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme (MaB Programme) and coordinates the Spanish network of biosphere reserves.
It manages a wide range of natural spaces and associated centres, following standards of conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.
It assumes the external image and the Spanish role in the international policies on National Parks.
It develops environmental education actions and dissemination of knowledge and experiences.
It also supports biodiversity conservation actions and others that promote the integration of society into the new environmental culture.