This Law provides the basis for the protection of the natural environment. Its provisions aim at the institution of fundamental rules and the establishment of criteria and methods for the protection of the environment, so that man, both as an individual and as a member of the society, can live in a high quality environment. More specifically, the basic aims of this law are the following: prevention of pollution and degradation of the environment; safety of human health; renewal of natural sources and rationalistic use of the non-renewable or rare natural sources in a combination with the present or future needs; protection of soil, superficial and subterranean waters, atmosphere as well as preservation of nature and landscape, especially of areas which have an important biological, ecological, aesthetic or geomorphological value; determination of permitted waste emissions; environmental impact assesment. It should be noted that Law 1650/86 introduces a new classification of the protected areas, which is more complete than the one in force as defined by the Forestry Code. According to article 18 and the criteria described in article 19 the protected areas are characterized as: Areas of Absolute Protection of Nature; Nature Protection Areas; National Parks; Protected Natural Formations, Protected Landscapes and Landscape Elements; Eco-development Areas.