The Alpine Network of Protected Areas
Mountains 2016 is an international event aiming to promote sustainable development in mountains, based on science, knowledge, and innovation.It will be held from October 3rd 2016 to October 7th 2016 in Brangça, Portugal.
Mountains 2016 will combine two different events:
All details can be found on the website http://cimo.esa.ipb.pt/mountains2016/
![Alpine Nature 2030 - Creating [ecological] connectivity for generations to come](/media/k2/items/cache/dcb1882b5d2da82c4f1ecb54d9b9de6d_Generic.jpg)
Published by: Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB)
This publication highlights the results of the long-term and successful cooperation between different stakeholders for biodiversity conservation in Europe.
The Ministry has provided support for the project based work of ALPARC, the Platform Ecological Network of the Alpine Convention, relevant EU (European Union) projects under the Alpine Space Programme and the development of expert tools and methods for connectivity by means of research projects from the Federal Environment Ministry's departmental research plan.
“Alpine Nature Parks – Models for Change” is a conference for protected area staff, regional managers, and other actors and pioneers of Alpine regions who deal with or are interested in innovation in regional development. From September 28 to 30, the conference will provide the opportunity to exchange on innovative approaches and new ideas for regional development in Alpine rural areas. Which initiatives and projects can reconcile economic, social and ecological objectives, today and in the future, especially in parks?
The event wants to foster the exchange between Alpine regions and their actors, notably with regard to creative soultions. To the participants it should be an inspiration for economic and social change. Furthermore, the goal is to develop common tools for promoting change and innovation in these regions.
Programme & Registration
To ensure as many different exchanges as possible the event will be organised as a mix of plenary sessions and workshops. An important component will be the presentation of the results of the project InnovAlps, which will concentrate on the experiences and best practices of the pilot regions. Additionally, workshops for innovation and ideas will take place, where ideas and possibilities for future cooperation, to foster change and innovation in protected area regions, can be developed.
You find the detailed programme for download below (German, French and English). The conference language is German but translation to French and English is possible.
If you are interested in this event, please register by clicking on the button below (form in English language).
The InnovAlps project is part of the ALPARC thematic priority “regional development and quality of life”, which addresses directly the needs of rural areas in the Alps and their populations. The project is supported by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment FOEN.
You can find more information on the project here.
On the 4th of November 2016 the University of Geneva together with the University of Lausanne organizes in Leysin a lifelong learning day on the topic: " Mountains of Switzerland- Developement and the landscape" about the role of the landscape in mountains developement's projects.
Further information about registration and fees are available on this website.
https://www.unige.ch/formcont/montagne/
Two new members
We are glad to welcome 2 new members in our network this year: The Natural Park Ötztal, in Austria and the Friuli Venezia Giulia Autonomous region in Italy
Changes in management
In February 2016, the National Stelvio Park consortium (IT) that managed the park since October 1995, has been dissolved. Since the 1st of March, the park administrative supervision and management has been transferred to the related territories: Autonomous Province of Bolzano and of Trento and Lombardy region. A coordination committee, presided by Ugo Parolo, insures the unity of the park. Wolfgang Platter, director of the former consortium, has retired the 1st of September 2016. Involved for years in the network, he remains ALPARC Council Vice President until the next elections. We already wish him success in his personal projects.
In the French protected areas, several nominations are highlighted
Henriette Martinez, Major of Laragne-Montéglin (Hautes-Alpes), President of the Laragnais Community of Communes, is the new president of the Baronnies Provençales Regional Nature Park, an organisation she has supported since the beginning. This year she was also elected President of the Provence-Alpes-Côte-D’azur Regional Nature Parks network and Vice President of the French Federation of Regional Nature Parks.
As for Eva Aliacar, she has assumed the position of Director of the National Nature Park of Vanoise last July. She is the second woman to manage the Park since its creation and replaces Emmanuel Michau.
Regarding the Nature Park of the Massif des Bauges, it is Jean-Luc Desbois, former deputy director who is now at its head.
3 French Alpine National Parks strenghten their cooperation
The presidents and directors of the 3 National Parks of the French Alps (Mercantour, Vanoise, Écrins) are involved to make a joint effort to settle technical cooperation and to look for financings. European financing search for joint actions is one of the most important point of this cooperation. Actions have already been pooled: as regards scientific research, "Lacs sentinelles" and "Alpages sentinelles" programmes that are great examples.
The third and last InnovAlps workshop took place on the 21st and 22nd of June 2016 in the Regional nature park Baronnies provençales. Situated between the Southern Alps and the Provence, the Baronnies massif is at the crossroads of Alpine and Provençal influences. The place is famous for its valuable and diversified local production, its open landscapes, its typical agricultural and built heritage and its geology and biodiversity.
In this vast territory (half of the villages has less than 100 inhabitants), the nature park administration spearheads many rural development initiatives and coordinates innovative actions in collaboration with a large network of local actors. Some of them, together with the park staff, had opportunity to express themselves during the workshop in June. They underlined the importance of the park’s development charter as a guiding principle for their actions in favour of a sustainable, economic and solidary development. In order to support such a development, the actors think that it is essential to relocate the local economy, based on local resources and production. The region needs to sustain and promote mountain agriculture through diversification and a quality approach. In the Baronnies region, agriculture is a key sector that employs 18% of the working force.
One innovative initiative in this perspective is a network of about fifty producers and buyers (artisans, restaurateur and small shops). The aim was to improve local products sales and to facilitate supply. In 2013, the network became institutionalised with the creation of the association “Short circuits in the Baronnies Provençales”. In cooperation with the park and the department, an online shop was created which facilitates the link between producers and buyers. It also allows improving logistics in this vast territory, with collect and pick-up locations. The Association members ensure the quality of their products by signing a common charter on top of their official certifications (AOP, IGP, AB, …).
The participants also discussed other projects of the park: the development of touristic offers that valorise the outstanding quality of the night sky, natural and cultural heritage education or the promotion of new work and life styles, such as co-working. Gilberte Bremond, deputy director of the park, underlined that the French Regional nature parks have the explicit mission to innovate, to “realise experimental or exemplary actions”. Innovation is in their DNA, so to say. The Swiss and Austrian participants benefitted from the experiences and were able to collect ideas for their own territories.
InnvAlps is coming to its end
The InnovAlps project is a search for innovative approaches and alternatives for development of protected area regions. Three pilot regions, all classified nature parks, have engaged in a transnational exchange on innovation. They have presented their projects in the fields of tourism, local production, environmental education and more generally governance and cooperation on regional level.
The last InnovAlps event will the final conference on September 29th and 30th, 2016, open to all interested persons. It will take place in the regional nature park Pfyn-Finges in the Valais (CH). Under the title « Alpine Nature Parks – Model for Change », the conference will present the results of the project. The event will also be the occasion to discuss further actions within the ALPARC network in the working field of regional development.
"Initially I thought it would have been boring... but in the end it was amazing!" Lilou and Kilian, France. Read more in the official press release below.
On 12th and 13th July, for the second edition of the operation, almost 700 participants (more than 500 young people and about 150 adults) from 8 countries of the Alps and the Carpathians together saw what it was like to live as a group and share exciting moments in the mountains: an event that will long remain in their memories. In all, 37 events took place in the Alpine Arc and 4 in the Carpathians.
Visit the project’s official page: www.youth-at-the-top.org
the Facebook page www.facebook.com/YATevent
and our Youtube channel.
The retrospective video of the 2016 edition of Youth at the Top will be available this autumn.
Our thanks go to all our partners and to the young participants for making this edition a success!
"Youth at the top" is a project coordinated by ALPARC, together with Educ’alpes in France, with the special financial support of the German Ministry for the Environment (BMUB).
This collective project emanates from the “Mountain Environmental Education in the Alpine Protected Areas” working group, whose driving aim is to develop links between young people and mountains.
After the success of the international “Wildlife and Winter Sport Activities” workshop in the Massif des Bauges on 3rd and 4th March last, attended by 45 people, a working group on this theme was set up at the beginning of summer. The will to work together in the ALPARC network stems from the finding that the disturbance of wildlife in winter is a problem that follows the same dynamic in many Alpine territories. Sharing knowledge and practices can bring added value: more visibility, greater awareness –raising among the public who practise such activities and a better quality of management in the Alpine protected areas. The operating objective for this group of around 20 people is to develop a project on a transnational scale together.
The working group has at its disposal an online collaborative working space, where information and photos can be shared. Last May the steering committee, made up of technicians from the Bauges Nature Park, ASTERS and ALPARC, met for the first time to collect the feedback from the workshop and set out the next steps.
The results of the online survey
Among the first actions planned by this committee was an online survey which was launched by ALPARC last June and in which 27 people took part (44 % protected areas, 30 % researchers and 19 % Alpine clubs), its aim being to channel ideas for projects. Overall the survey confirmed once again the interest in working together on this theme, notably on awareness-raising, communication and monitoring of the disturbance (wildlife and sports activities). 74 % of participants are in favour of a campaign to raise awareness on an Alpine scale. The idea of working with the pilot regions was brought up, as well as partnerships with Alpine clubs and firms in the outdoor sector for the communication/awareness-raising campaign.
The next step will be to develop a project on an Alpine scale. Furthermore, ALPARC is actively looking for financing which could support these activities and the development of a common strategy.
For further details: Workshop report « Wildlife and winter sport activities »
To join the working group: ALPARC extranet
Ten young people aged from 12 to 15 recently took part in the “Media Camp” organised by the Berchtesgaden National Park in Germany.
“My objective was to get the youngsters to take more time over taking a photo and so be more aware of how they were doing it. They learned to experiment with the camera settings rather than snap away willy nilly,” explains Mark Walter, the professional photographer who for the second time was in charge of the camp.
Can nature and the media really go hand in hand?
“Absolutely”, according to Julia Herzog, in charge of environmental education at the National Park: “Nowadays young people can no longer imagine their lives without modern technology. So for that very reason we want to use this activity as an appetizer to get them to take an enthusiastic interest in the nature around them.”
Thus the camp programme offered notably: a thematic introduction to the aesthetics and composition of the image – A debate on the meaning of the term “Wilderness”- The choice of a personal theme related to the Wilderness – A hike , taking photos and making films on this theme , but also: games, meals and cookery together , a night in a refuge…
Please see the full press release attached (In German)
Following summer reads on the beach or on the grass, we recommend reads for the beginning of the autumn term with some studious books:
"Wilderei im rhätischen Dreiländereck" - "Poaching in the Raetian region – Cross-border studies tracking until Tibet"
This book (304 p.) was written by Heinrich Haller, Director of the Swiss National Park and will be published in October 2016 in German language and in 2017 in Italian language. A presentation of the book is planned for the 12th October 2016, 8.30pm, in Zernez/CH.
To read an extract: https://issuu.com/haupt/docs/9783258079653
“Urban Protected Areas - Profiles and best practice guidelines” – IUCN (2014)
Continued urbanization and metropolisation make urban protected areas a matter of crucial concern. In this volume the IUCN emphasizes management approaches that are especially relevant to protected areas in urban regions.
Download: https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/PAG-022.pdf
"Alpine Nature 2030 - Creating [ecological] connectivity for generations to come"
ALPARC is currently completing the publication of its book to be published in October 2016, on the occasion of AlpWeek and the XIV Alpine Conference which end the German Presidency of the Alpine Convention, in Grassau/D from the 11th to the 15th October 2016. The book is published by the German Ministry of Environment in English language and will be downloadable on ALPARC website www.alparc.org/nature2030.
There are still a few places available to participate to the forth Workshop « Mountain Environmental Education in the Alpine Protected Areas » on the 18th and 19th October, in the French National Park of Mercantour, at the Refuge-hôtel de Bayasse.
Registrations are opened until the 15th of September!
(If you are interested but not able to register before this deadline, please contact info@alparc.org)