Protected areas are threatened by an unprecedented intensification of land use. The effectiveness of protected areas depends on their ability to stop habitat loss not only within their boundaries but also in their surroundings. Based on the CORINE Land Cover data, we describe the land use-land cover changes in European National Parks, both inside and at distant surrounding areas (1, 5, 20 km), and examine if the detected pattern is homogeneous across Europe. We analysed 192 parks from 25 European countries using five temporal scenarios between 1986 and 2018. Our results indicate that the designation of a protected area is a process that can increase it’s the area’s natural condition in a few years, thus providing a beneficial effect on its surrounding environment. However, this effect depends on the distance and when the protected area was declared. The naturalization effect is more visible at the nearest buffer distances in reserves that have been protected for the longest time. Furthermore, the role played by protected areas shows a spatially heterogeneous distribution, with clear notable latitudinal differences. In essence, these results are fundamental for developing effective adaptation strategies and proposing better policies to protect European NPs.

保护区受到前所未有的土地利用强度的威胁。保护区的有效性取决于它们不仅在边界内而且在周围环境中阻止栖息地丧失的能力。基于 CORINE 土地覆盖数据，我们描述了欧洲国家公园内部和远处周边地区（1、5、20 公里）的土地利用-土地覆盖变化，并检查检测到的模式在整个欧洲是否均匀。我们使用 1986 年至 2018 年间的五个时间情景分析了来自 25 个欧洲国家的 192 个公园。我们的结果表明，保护区的指定是一个可以在几年内改善该地区自然条件的过程，从而对其产生有益影响。周边环境。然而，这种影响取决于距离和宣布保护区的时间。在保护时间最长的保护区中，归化效应在最近的缓冲距离处更为明显。此外，保护区发挥的作用呈现出空间分布的异质性，具有明显的纬度差异。从本质上讲，这些结果对于制定有效的适应战略和提出更好的保护欧洲 NPs 的政策至关重要。