The dissertation is aimed at providing a theoretical overview of and a solution to the problem that focuses on the specific features of the organization, functioning, management of national nature parks, protection of their territory, natural landscapes and complexes. The paper proposes the periodization of the formation of national nature parks in modern Ukraine, in particular, four stages of the formation and development of the legal regime of national nature parks are defined: 1) from ancient times to 1917 – the period when the ideas about designating conservation areas – prototypes of national parks – emerged and were implemented; 2) 1917 – the 1970s – the period of the first attempts at creating and introducing legislation on national parks; 3) the 1970s –1991 – the period of the formation of the system of national nature parks in the USSR with the introduction of the corresponding legislation; 4) 1991 to the present – the period of improving the legislation on national natural parks within the system of Ukraine’s ecological network with regard to international and European approaches to biodiversity preservation. The basic thesis is formulated that the legal regime of the national nature park should be considered from two perspectives: 1) as a subject (participant) of legal relations (environmental, land, administrative, financial, economic, etc.) and 2) as an object of environmental legal relations. In the first sense, the national nature park acts as an independent legal entity in the form of environmental, recreational, research, cultural and educational institutions. In the second sense, the national nature park is a large natural area, within which the preservation and 9 reproduction of biological and landscape diversity as well as a balanced use of natural complexes, facilities and resources for recreational, research, educational and economic purposes are ensured. The study provides a critical legal literature review of this problem, and the author’s definition of the term “the legal regime of the national nature park” is presented based on the principle of sustainable development and reflected in environmental legal regulations containing permits, restrictions and prohibitions defining the procedure for the functioning of the national nature park network and the nature reserve fund of Ukraine, designed to preserve and reproduce biological and landscape diversity as well as to optimize a recreational, research, educational and economic use of natural complexes, facilities and resources. The specific features of the legal regime of national natural parks of Ukraine are defined: 1) it is determined by environmental laws and regulations as well as by acts of land, civil, economic, financial legislation; 2) it is subject to the general environmental requirements of the legal regime of the ecological network and the nature reserve fund of Ukraine with regard to its purpose, objectives and functions; 3) it has a multifunctional nature and ensures the implementation of basic (environmental and recreational) and additional (research, educational, socio-economic) functions; 4) it is characterized by a combined regime of conservation areas presenting various combinations of modes of protection and use of natural resources within the functional zones of the national nature park; 5) includes a combination of legal means of regulation: permits, restrictions, prohibitions, which are designed to ensure a balanced (sustainable) development of the territory, ecosystems and promote the effective implementation of its objectives.
