The Alpine Network of Protected Areas
ALPARC wishes Happy Birthday to theSwiss National Park (SNP) who celebrates its centenary. Founded on 1st August 1914, the pioneers created a unique wilderness oasis where the natural development occurs without human influence. In the oldest national park of the Alps, this remarkable nature experiment has been scientifically observed and documented for hundred years.
In occasion of the Swiss National Park's Birthday, ALPARC offers new postcards "special centenary".
A colourful bouquet of anniversary projects provides a multi-facetted insight into a century of wilderness development.
The events:
Working towards a common goal: the SNP creates “Wilderness” with an exhibition tour in 16 large shopping centres in the entire country.
“LAINA VIVA – the legendary creation of the Swiss national park” An open-air theatre created especially to celebrate the Swiss National Park’s 100th anniversary will show on stage during all the summer.
National park ON TOUR :An interactive exhibition with 30 animated origami-style animals.
100 years Swiss National Park: LA FESTA: The 1st August 2014 is the 100th anniversary of the Swiss National Park’s foundation. In Zernez, a full programme for young and old, commencing at 10:00 with a children’s concert, and finishing with a big birthday party in the festival marquee. At the main ceremony, Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard, will deliver birthday greetings from the Confederation.
In September, the SNP will add a West-Swiss note at the “Comptoir Suisse” in Lausanne, and the National Park Centre in Zernez will show an anniversary exhibition in 2014 about people who have shaped the SNP in the past and today.
Finally, various publications, such as the new atlas, complement the programme.
More information:
www.nationalpark.ch/jubiläum
www.facebook.com/schweiz.nationalpark
Le Parc national du Mercantour, en partenariat avec Parcs nationaux de France, Futurikon Films et le Conseil Général des Alpes Maritimes, a organisé l’avant-première du film « Minuscule » qui a été tourné dans les Parcs nationaux du Mercantour et des Ecrins en 2010, 2011 et 2012.
Les écoles du Parc national ont été invitées à cette avant-première à Nice. Environ 530 élèves ont pu bénéficier de cette projection et de la rencontre avec les réalisateurs du film. Ils ont pu ainsi leur poser quelques questions techniques et sympathiques montrant ainsi leur intérêt et leur engouement pour le film.
Le Parc national du Mercantour a adhéré dès le début à la démarche de tournage car ce film s’inscrit dans une problématique qui est au cœur des missions des parcs nationaux : sensibiliser le plus grand nombre de personnes au respect de la biodiversité et à son importance pour les hommes. En effet, ce film permet de nous mettre à l’échelle de ces petites bêtes et de les appréhender dans leurs univers. Il permet aussi de valoriser les paysages magnifiques du Parc national du Mercantour et de donner envie d’aller le découvrir en le respectant !
Le Parc national du Mercantour, le Parc national des Ecrins et Parcs nationaux de France ont aussi participé à la création d'un site internet disponible à l'adresse: http://www.minuscule.com/fr/pages/home
Le film est à découvrir dans les salles à partir du 29 janvier 2014.
We are pleased to provide you here a first list of events organized or co-organized by ALPARC and important dates to remember in 2014.
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January 9th - 12th |
Pinzolo, Val Rendena / Parco naturale Adamello Brenta, (I) |
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January 10th |
ALPARC general assembly (morning) |
Pinzolo, Val Rendena / Parco naturale Adamello Brenta, (I) |
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January 10th |
Thematic seminar (afternoon) |
Pinzolo, Val Rendena / Parco naturale Adamello Brenta, (I) |
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March |
Meeting of the Platform “Ecological Network” of the Alpine Convention |
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October |
3rd international workshop “Mountain Environmental Education in Alpine protected areas” |
Haus der Berge, Nationalpark Berchtesgaden (D) |
Other events and meetings could still be programmed.
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January 17 |
SWIFCOB 14 (Swiss Academy of Science) |
Berne (CH) |
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March 20 - 21 |
55th Permanent Committee of the Alpine Convention |
Gorizia (I) |
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June 24 - 25 |
55th Permanent Committee of the Alpine Convention |
Brescia (I) |
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September 17 - 19 |
ForumAlpinum 2014 (ISCAR) |
Darfo Boario Terme (Val Camonica) (I) |
Don’t forget to check regularly the calendar of events at the website of Alparc.
You can also stream your own events on this site, under " Events of the Alpine protected areas " and "Other events in the Alps ": for this, you have simply to provide us all useful information: info@alparc.org
Le rapport d’activités d’ALPARC pour l’année 2013 est désormais disponible sur notre site Internet.
Apprenez-en plus sur une année particulière, de transition entre deux structures, qui a permis de poser des bases saines pour la nouvelle association ALPARC et de préparer des projets novateurs pour l’avenir.
The partners of the project discuss the first results.
The greenAlps project, of which ALPARC is the lead partner, is on. The first results of the activities that started in September, have been the object of a meeting among the project partners that took place in Vienna in early December.
In particular, the partners focused on the database gathering the main results of other international projects so as to maximize them and on an investigation on the most important European policies concerning biodiversity and ecosystem services, which is already available.
The partner EURAC visited the pilot sites of the greenAlps project on the occasion of a meeting with local stakeholders.
In 2014, four workshops with the collaboration of local stakeholders and three work meetings with the participation of international stakeholders will be organized in the pilot areas. The final conference of the project will take place in Chambery in 2014.
For more information please go to : http://www.greenalps-project.eu/
The general assembly of the new ALPARC association, set up in January 2013, will take place on January 10, 2014 in Pinzolo (Italy).
All the members, as well as the protected areas that wish to join the association or are interested in the international activities carried out by ALPARC, are invited to participate.
The General Assembly will be celebrated in the Adamello Brenta National Park on the occasion of the Memorial Danilo Re and will provide the opportunity to present the new programme of activities for the years 2014-2015 of the ALPARC association.
Dear colleagues and friends of the alpine protected areas,
The first year of activity of the “ALPARC” association is drawing to an end.
As of January 1, 2014 our team - the “Task Force Protected Areas” - along with any tangible and intangible assets, will be transferred from the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention to our association, ALPARC.
We would like to invite all the Alpine protected areas to take advantage of the joint audiovisual production by including it into their programming for 2014. The multivision “For the Alps” can be screened as part of entertainment programmes of parks and reserves, at visitors’ centres or local events.
The multivision can be downloaded as .exe and .MP4 files in 3 resolutions and 3 different language versions (FDIS / FDIE / SDIE).
It will also be available on standard DVD and blu-ray in Spring 2014.
A free copy will be sent to each protected area of the ALPARC network.
20 management bodies of Alpine protected areas have accepted the challenge of uncovering the beauty and diversity of the Alps across borders in images and music. They have collected close to 10,000 photographs for this, mainly taken by park staff such as the wardens of the parks.
Thereafter, it was necessary to choose 400 photos from the wealth of images that illustrated at the same time the different countries, landscapes, parks, cultures, species, missions and activities from across the Alpine region. The multivision invites you to an amazing and moving journey from France to Slowenia!
Duration: 23 minutes
Producer: Alex Gordon Rowbotham
Original music composed by: Sandro Di Stefano
A production by ALPARC, the Alpine Network of Protected Areas
Financing: The multivision production has been co-financed by the partner protected areas who helped to create it (list below) and by:
at the brand new visitors centre (Haus der Berge) of the Berchtesgaden National Park in the Bavarian Alps
Until then ALPARC will work with the members of this working group on different projects:
If you are in charge of environment education in an Alpine protected area and interested in the activities of this group open to all, please do not hesitate to contact marie.stoeckel(at)alparc.org.
ALPARC carried out its first ordinary general assembly on 10th January 2014 in Pinzolo in the Adamello Brenta Natural Park (I) with its members from all Alpine countries present. The general assembly approved the official reports for 2013 of the President, Treasurer and Director, as well as the framework programme 2014-2019 and the working programme 2014.
The programme reflects ALPARC’s most important areas of action:
The presence of the General Secretary of the Alpine Convention, Markus Reiterer, has emphasised the close connection between ALPARC and the Alpine Convention, even after separation of the Task Force Protected Areas from the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention. ALPARC’s programme includes an intensive cooperation on various subjects to run from this year.
ALPARC, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year (founded by France in 1995), is an own entity from now onwards and has a team to further strengthen the cooperation between the administrators of the protected areas of all Alpine countries within the framework of the Alpine Convention. In addition to France and Germany that have supported ALPARC for a long time, this status should enable other Alpine countries too to become involved more pro-actively in the concrete implementation of the Convention.
On time for the general assembly, ALPARC could welcome its 40th member: the Binntal Nature Park in Switzerland, and coinciding with going to press for this newsletter the Slovenian Logar Valley Landscape Park registered as a new official ALPARC member. A warm welcome!
You can view the activity report 2013 as a pdf file at this link .
The Adamello Brenta Geopark hosted the nineteenth edition of the meet in memory of Danilo Re at Pinzolo (Val Rendena, Trentino, Italy) from 9th to 12th January 2014.
Danilo Re is a park warden from the Province of Cuneo (Piemont, Italy) who met his death in the line of duty in 1995. For many years now, the annual Danilo Re Meet has provided a major opportunity for all those working in Alpine Protected Areas to get acquainted with one another, in particular those in the field, carrying out surveillance, facilitation and fact-finding missions.
The 2014 edition attracted 150 participants who took part in sports competitions and a thematic seminar entitled “Meeting wildlife in Nature - Programs and initiatives for visitors of alpine protected areas - between conservation and valorisation of a resource”.
Results
The detailed results of the competitions are available under this link .
For the rankings of the teams that distinguished themselves, the Berchtesgaden National Park (D) came in first place, the Paneveggio Pale di San Marino Nature Park (I) in second place and the neighbouring national parks of Gran Paradiso (I) and Vanoise (F) shared the third place.
Dear friends of the Alpine protected areas,
The network of Alpine protected areas is a success story of long years about the implementation of the Alpine Convention, which began as early as 1995 on French initiative, developed further in the following years and joined the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention in 2006 as the Task Force Protected Areas. A new stage began on 1st January 2014 with the formal independence and creation of the ALPARC association.
It has been the goal throughout all those years to interconnect the protected areas in the Alps and to strengthen the biodiversity and the sustainable development of our unique area of the Alps as a joint responsibility.
For the Alpine Convention this means that with ALPARC we can count on a strong partner, with whom we have many things in common. We also laid the foundation for the future by signing a Memorandum of cooperation. Our first task this year is to define concrete contents and joint projects, and to support one another as well as possible. ALPARC’s programme for the next two years contains a series of important ideas and plans, such as the continuation of the important work to further the development of the network, the youth work and the joint public relations work, just to name a few.
The protected areas are jewels of the Alps! Invaluable jewels! The protection of these areas and their valorisation must therefore continue to feature as a priority in implementing the Alpine Convention in the future.
I therefore look forward to the cooperation between the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention and ALPARC with a view to achieving our joint goals.
Yours,
Markus Reiterer
France launches the idea of establishing a European network of Alpine Protected Areas.
Organisation of the 1st International Conference of the Alpine Protected Areas in Les Ecrins National Park (FR).
Drafting of the rules for ALPARC's procedural regulations;
Official recognition of ALPARC - The Alpine Network of Protected Areas as a contribution to the application of the Alpine Convention.
Conference of the Protected Areas of the European mountains.
The Steering Committee of the Alpine Convention gives ALPARC the responsibility to carry out a study on ecological networks and transboundary areas.
ALPARC celebrates its 10th anniversary.
ALPARC’s staff becomes attached to the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention under the name 'Task Force Protected Areas'.
Official partnership between CIPRA, ISCAR and WWF on the Ecological Continuum Initiative.
With the goal of creating a genuine ecological network, ALPARC launches a large-scale project on ecological corridors in collaboration with partner organizations.
Contracting parties of the Alpine Convention, the Carpathian Convention and the Biodiversity Convention sign the Memorandum of Cooperation.
ALPARC coordinates the activities of the Alpine Convention’s Platform 'Ecological Network'.
In January, ALPARC acquires the legal status of ‘association’ in France and separates from the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention.
In February, ALPARC and the Alpine Convention sign a Memorandum of Cooperation in order to facilitate cooperation between the two organizations and benefit from potential synergies.
20th anniversary!
ALPARC launches the first edition of the international event ‘Youth at the Top’ to help reconnect Alpine youth with nature and their mountain heritage.
ALPARC starts to work on the working field 'Regional Development and Quality of Life' under the framework of the project InnovAlps and WeWild.
ALPARC leads the 3-year EU Alpine Space project ALPBIONET2030 for Alpine wildlife and habitat management and the YOUrALPS project to give structure to the field of Mountain-oriented Education and incorporate the values and knowledge of mountains more fully into practice.
ALPARC becomes a partner of the 2-year EU Alpine Space project GaYA on implementing youth participation in the Alps.
Launch of the communication campaign 'Be Part of the Mountain' to reduce the impact of winter sport practitioners on Alpine fauna.
On April 11th, the new regional platform of the Alpine Network ‘ALPARC CENTR’ALPS’ is officially founded in Nagelfluhkette Nature Park (Balderschwang, DE) to ensure a regional presence and proximity of the network.
ALPARC celebrates its 25th anniversary in Le Monêtier-les-Bains, Les Ecrins National Park.
Together with 5 partners within the project OpenSpaceAlps and with 10 partners within the HEALPS2 project, ALPARC and the project partners have successfully completed these Alpine Space projects.
The regional platform ALPARC CENTR'ALPS is present with a contact point with its own staff in Immenstadt (DE).
Alpine Space project ‘PlanToConnect’ (project builds on the results of ALPBIONET2030). Objective: Integration of ecological connectivity into spatial planning in the Alpine region.
Launch of two Alpine Space projects: ‘LiveAlpsNature’ (ALPARC LeadPartner). Objective: Visitor guidance measures for Alpine protected areas through innovative offers (OneHealthApproach) and modern digital platforms for outdoor activities. ‘AlpsLife’ (ALPARC, central project partner). Objective: Provision of methods for joint biodiversity monitoring and an Alpine early warning system for species and habitat loss.
30 years of international cooperation of Alpine protected areas within the network ALPARC.