In Belgium national parks are recognised by the regions. The Flemish Government recognised four in 2023: Bosland, Brabantse Wouden, Hoge Kempen and Scheldevallei. The Walloon Government recognised two in 2022: Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse and the Vallée de la Semois. We found none for Brussels.13
Which national parks have the regions recognised?
The Flemish Government recognised four national parks in October 2023; the Agency for Nature and Forests' page says, in Dutch, that the government op 13 oktober 2023 vier Nationale Parken erkende
.1 The Walloon Government recognised Wallonia's two national parks in December 2022; the Walloon record says, in French, dans sa décision du 08 décembre 2022
.3
| National park | Region (and provinces, for Wallonia) | Year recognised |
|---|---|---|
| Nationaal Park Bosland | Flanders (Vlaanderen) | 20231 |
| Nationaal Park Brabantse Wouden | Flanders (Vlaanderen) | 20231 |
| Nationaal Park Hoge Kempen | Flanders (Vlaanderen) | 20231 |
| Nationaal Park Scheldevallei | Flanders (Vlaanderen) | 20231 |
| Parc national de la Vallée de la Semois | Wallonia (Wallonie): provinces Luxembourg et Namur | 20223 |
| Parc national de l'Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse | Wallonia (Wallonie): provinces Namur et Hainaut | 20223 |
The year is the year of recognition by the regional government, not a founding year. The Walloon record writes parc national in lower case within a sentence; we capitalised the names for the table.
Can this list be reused?
The Walloon record is under CC BY 4.0 and asks users to cite it as Service public de Wallonie (SPW) - Parcs nationaux de Wallonie.3 The Flemish government's disclaimer, which the agency's website links as its own, says the information may be reused without further conditions under article II.55 of the Flemish Governance Decree.2 We use the facts only, and no photos.
What this page cannot tell you
- Regional, not national. Each region recognises its own parks; we found no national park designation for Brussels in the sources we used.
- Areas are not shown. The Walloon record gives areas that include enclaves, which it says are not counted in the park's area, so we leave them out.
Related: National parks around the world · National parks of Japan · Officially recognised places.
Key takeaways
- Flanders recognised four national parks in 2023 and Wallonia two in 2022.
- The year is the year of recognition, not a founding year.
- We found no national park for Brussels.
- What we would skip: reading the list as a ranking or a travel guide. It records an official designation; it says nothing about opening, access or conditions, so check each park's own information before you go.
Sources
The Flemish parks come from the Agency for Nature and Forests' page on national parks; the Walloon parks from the Service public de Wallonie's Geoportal record. Both read on 1 October 2026. See how we research.
- Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos (Vlaamse overheid), Nationale Parken Vlaanderen. Read it on natuurenbos.be. Accessed 1 October 2026.
- Vlaamse overheid, Disclaimer. Read it on vlaanderen.be. Accessed 1 October 2026.
- Service public de Wallonie (SPW), Parcs nationaux de Wallonie (2024-04-04). Read the record on the Walloon Geoportal. Accessed 1 October 2026.
Credit and licence. Wallonia: Source : Service public de Wallonie (SPW) - Parcs nationaux de Wallonie (2024-04-04), https://geodata.wallonie.be/id/e7373449-b7b7-47a5-9c24-ec14798e3238 - licence CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Names, recognition date and provinces extracted from the record; not endorsed by SPW. Flanders: Bron: Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos (Vlaamse overheid). Changes made. We put the names, regions and recognition years into one table and summarised the text in English. We use no logos or images from these sources. Gallivanting Gadabout is not connected with, or endorsed by, the Flemish or Walloon governments.