About Us

ALPARC, the Alpine Network of Protected Areas, was founded in 1995 to support the implementation of the Alpine Convention, in particular the Protocol on "Nature protection and landscape conservation.” ALPARC's activities cover a large geographical area, ranging from the French to the Slovenian Alps.

Objectives and Activities

The association’s main goal is to promote the exchange of expertise, techniques and methods among the managers of all the large protected areas in the Alps such as national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves, biosphere reserves, tranquility zones, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, geological reserves and sites granted a special protection status. This exchange allows for parks to take part in and carry out projects that they may not have been able to do on their own. Through international cooperation, ALPARC serves as an intermediary between institutions, local actors and Alpine communities within the region in implementing the Alpine Convention.

ALPARC carries out its actions under three main topics: Biodiversity and Ecological Connectivity, Regional Development and Quality of Life, and Education for Sustainable Development in the Alps. These three topics allow for ALPARC to take a regional approach to global issues such as climate change, nature conservation and sustainable development. Moreover, ALPARC aims to raise awareness among the general public and in particular, Alpine youth on environmental challenges.

How?

ALPARC achieves its objectives by:

Organizing events and workshops
Facilitating the dissemination of information on shared themes and producing publications
Cooperating with other international bodies, organizations and networks
Developing and coordinating international and notably European projects for and with the Alpine Protected Areas
Offering services such as finding partners for projects, producing expertise on various themes, exchanging data through tools such as directories and databases, and providing map-making and language assistance

Key dates

France launches the idea of establishing a European network of Alpine Protected Areas.

1994

Organisation of the 1st International Conference of the Alpine Protected Areas in Les Ecrins National Park (FR).

1995

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.

2000

Conference of the Protected Areas of the European mountains.

2002

The Steering Committee of the Alpine Convention gives ALPARC the responsibility to carry out a study on ecological networks and transboundary areas.

2004

ALPARC celebrates its 10th anniversary.

2005

ALPARC’s staff becomes attached to the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention under the name 'Task Force Protected Areas'.

2006

Official partnership between CIPRA, ISCAR and WWF on the Ecological Continuum Initiative.

2007

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.

2008

ALPARC coordinates the activities of the Alpine Convention’s Platform 'Ecological Network'.

2009

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.

2013

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.

2015

ALPARC starts to work on the working field 'Regional Development and Quality of Life' under the framework of the project InnovAlps and WeWild.

2016

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.

2017

Launch of the communication campaign 'Be Part of the Mountain' to reduce the impact of winter sport practitioners on Alpine fauna.

2018

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.

2019

ALPARC celebrates its 25th anniversary in Le Monêtier-les-Bains, Les Ecrins National Park.

2021

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.

2022

The regional platform ALPARC CENTR'ALPS is present with a contact point with its own staff in Immenstadt (DE).

2022

Alpine Space project ‘PlanToConnect’ (project builds on the results of ALPBIONET2030). Objective: Integration of ecological connectivity into spatial planning in the Alpine region.

2022

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.

2024

30 years of international cooperation of Alpine protected areas within the network ALPARC.

2025