National Parks of Azerbaijan are run by the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The first national park established was Zangezur National Park in 2003. Since then a further 9 national parks have been established; the most recent being the in 2018. The national parks are the public lands or bodies of water of special environmental, historical and other importance, which bear the status of governmental protection. They serve to the purposes of environmental protection, educational, scientific, cultural researches, etc.