Founded by John Muir, who argued that the conservation policies were not strong enough to protect the interest of the natural world because they continued to focus on the natural world as a source of economic production. 

It was one of the first National Park in Europe. It has an area of 174.2 km² and is the largest protected area of the country.

IUCN has become the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it. 

The Wilderness Act of 1964 created the legal definition of Wilderness in the United States, and protected 9.1 million acres (37,000 km²) of federal land. 

The Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora is the cornerstone of Europe’s nature conservation policy with the Birds Directive and established the EU wide Natura 2000 ecological network of protected areas.

WWF Netherlands starts PAN Parks to certify Protected Areas with a special focus on Sustainable Tourism.

European Parliament passes the Wilderness Resolution to define Wilderness to address aspects such as ecosystem services, conservation value, climate change and sustainable use. It also mandated the European Commission to map Europe’s last Wilderness areas and to undertake a study on the value and benefits of Wilderness protection.

Founded in Austria, its main objectives to identify, designate, steward and promote Europe´s last Wilderness. The European Wilderness Network is created.

The European Wilderness Quality Standard and Audit System based on Wilderness principles, criteria and several hundred indicators is launched and implemented across the European Wilderness Network.

More than 40 Wilderness areas have joined the expanding network with more than 300.000 ha.