Canada Saskatchewan There are 101 regional parks in Saskatchewan. All parks are operated by volunteer boards.
Italy Regional parks in Italy are administered by each
region in Italy, a government unit like a U.S. state.
Ireland Distinguished from
National Parks in the Republic of Ireland, which are owned and run centrally by the state's
National Parks and Wildlife Service, Ireland's regional parks are managed and operated by individual
local authorities in Ireland. Examples include Ballincollig Regional Park (managed by
Cork City Council), Millennium Regional Park (
Fingal County Council), and Malahide Demesne Regional Park (also Fingal County Council).
Lithuania A law to establish regional parks in Lithuania took effect in 1992. As of 2022, there were 30 such regional parks (
regioniniai parkai).
New Zealand In
New Zealand, regional parks are administered by
regional councils rather than the
Department of Conservation or
territorial authorities.
United States Definitions In the United States, a regional park is sometimes referred to as a 'Metropolitan Park (Metropark)' or as an
open space reserve. The terms
region and
metropolitan can have different meanings in U.S. local government agencies. Regional parks can be administered by a regional park board, a
state,
county or other units of
local 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.
Midwest Examples of large regional park systems are the
Cleveland Metroparks in Northeast Ohio,
Huron-Clinton Metroparks in Southeast
Michigan; and the
Three Rivers Park District in
Minnesota. In Ohio, under
Ohio Revised Code Chapter 1545, metroparks such as the Cleveland Metroparks Park District,
Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks have their own Police Departments with
sworn police officers. The
Toledo Metroparks, and
Dayton Five Rivers Metroparks are also in the state.
California The
East Bay Regional Park District and
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District have extensive parklands in the
San Francisco Bay Area, protecting habitat and offering recreation.
United Kingdom Scotland In
Scotland, 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 by
local authorities. As of 2018, Scotland had three regional parks: •
Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park •
Lomond Hills Regional Park •
Pentland Hills Regional Park England •
Lee Valley Regional Park Northern Ireland Lagan Valley Regional Park ==See also==