PROTECTED AREAS AND SUSTAINABLE TOURISM: GARGANO AND TREMITI ISLANDS 
Gargano National Park is a protected natural area 1.200 km large, instituted with the law 394/1991; it includes internal, coastal, and insular territories. Tremiti Islands are part of it and they are marine natural Reserve which were instituted with D.L. 14.07.1989. They are geographical spaces characterized by a weak economy, as their only source of subsistance is represented by tourism which is often a mass tourism, with a greatly seasonal characterization, vehicle for aggressive actions for the territory. It is clear that there is a need to safeguard territorial peculiarities, and guarantee a balanced course of economical development, feasible with the recognized forms of sustainable tourism, in the direction of a use of the geographical heritage in the full observance of its right evaluation. 
Keywords: National Park, marine natural reserve, sustainable tourism, Gargano, Tremiti Islands.