# Parks, volcanoes, lakes and coasts, disputes included

> 843 protected terrestrial areas, 24 operational national parks out of 27 listed. Where official sources disagree on a boundary, both figures stay.

URL: https://myitalia.it/nature
Last updated: 2026-09-03

Italy has 843 protected terrestrial areas covering 3,175,554 hectares, and 24 of its national parks are operational while 27 appear on the official list.

## The gap between listed and operational

Three national parks on the ministerial list have no operating authority, and they are not all in the same situation: Matese and Portofino carry provisional boundaries, while Golfo di Orosei e del Gennargentu was established and never made operational. Pages about those parks say which of the two states the park is in, because that decides whether there is an authority to publish an opening time, a permit rule or a closure, and whether anyone answers the phone.

## Where the sources disagree, both figures stay

No page here quietly picks the more convenient of two official numbers. When a boundary, a surface area or a summit height is given differently by two public bodies, the page prints both and names each body, then says which of the two the operator on the ground actually uses when it sells a ticket or closes a path.

## Sources

| Fact | Source | Confidence | Valid until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Le aree protette terrestri italiane sono 843 e coprono 3.175.554 ettari, circa il 10,5% della superficie terrestre nazionale (dato ISPRA 2024). | [ISPRA - Annuario dei dati ambientali](https://indicatoriambientali.isprambiente.it/en/protected-areas/terrestrial-protected-areas) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| In Italia i parchi nazionali con ente gestore operativo sono 24 (2026); la mappa ufficiale del Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Sicurezza Energetica ne georeferenzia 24. | [Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Sicurezza Energetica (MASE)](https://www.mase.gov.it/aree-protette/mappa-parchi-nazionali) | medium | 2027-12-31 |
| L'elenco dei parchi nazionali pubblicato dal MASE (aggiornato al 21 maggio 2025) contiene 27 voci, tra cui il Parco Nazionale del Matese e il Parco Nazionale di Portofino, entrambi indicati come 'perimetrazione provvisoria', e il Parco Nazionale del Golfo di Orosei e del Gennargentu, istituito ma mai reso operativo. | [Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Sicurezza Energetica (MASE)](https://www.mase.gov.it/portale/elenco-dei-parchi) | medium | 2027-12-31 |

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