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lundi, 07 juillet 2025 11:21

WELCOME - Alpine Parks for All

WELCOME - Alpine Parks for All - Living Space and Tourist Destination

Alpine tourism has developed significantly during the last decades into a more and more mass phenomenon, particularly in some parts of the Alps, including in many protected areas. New ways and approaches are needed in the Alpine region and especially in Alpine protected areas for a tourism more respectful of nature.

For this reason and in order to fulfil their mandate of nature conservation and sustainable development, Alpine protected areas must clearly define their position on tourism, promote specific forms of sustainable tourism and act accordingly. The phenomenon of “overtourism” and the boom in outdoor activities mean that the Alps are increasingly and exclusively regarded as a backdrop for sports activities. Users are often unaware that these practices can cause long-term damage to a unique natural environment.

Cooperation with local and regional partners is crucial to develop sustainable and forward-looking concepts that have an added value for nature conservation and tourism in protected areas. International exchange between protected areas is also of central importance to share knowledge, to exploit synergies and to define, implement and communicate joint measures. Alpine protected areas have a leading position in promoting sustainable tourism thanks to their many years of experience. Due to their established position as tourist destinations and their dual responsibility for effective nature conservation and sustainable regional development, they play a decisive pioneering role.

For mor information about the project: Welcome

Last week, ALPARC joined the celebrations for the 25th anniversary of the Interreg Alpine Space Programme in Salzburg!

The event was a great opportunity to share experiences, connect with the many actors involved in the protection and sustainable development of the Alpine region, and build new synergies for future transnational cooperation.
We also had the chance to showcase our ongoing projects, AlpsLife and LiveAlpsNature, together with our partners Eurac - Institute for Alpine Environment and CIPRA.

On the closing day, the colleagues from Nationalpark Berchtesgaden led a fieldtrip at the foot of the Watzmann, presenting practical actions linked to the key topics of both projects:

  • biodiversity monitoring plots, which provide a comprehensive picture of the species living in the park, from microorganism to large mammals
  • tourist flow management tools, such as dedicated bike tracks and regulations for specific sports activities, aimed at reducing the impacts on ecosystems

A valuable example of how Interreg projects can make a tangible contribution to the conservation of Alpine natural heritage!

 

© cover photo: Mathilde Maure / Eurac

The next meeting of the ALPARC Permanent Working Group on Education will take place on 26 March 2025, 15:00-18:00.
It will be held in person at the Haus der Berge, in Berchtesgaden.

Participants will also have the opportunity to join the closing event of the WELCOME project, which addresses topics strictly related to environmental education.

We kindly ask you to register by Sunday 16 March 2025, by selecting the specific option in the registration form of the WELCOME Closing Event.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@alparc.org

mardi, 29 octobre 2024 16:12

Alpine Parks 2030

Biodiversity conservation for generations to come

The decisive and desired result of the project is to map a path toward a more efficient and coordinated protected area policy throughout the Alps. The results of the individual chapters are intended to provide technical support for this process and to highlight particular perspectives.

Specifically, the project is intended to contribute to:

a) harmonising the management and measures of the existing protected areas more internationally in the sense of an Alpine-wide protection of biodiversity and

b) to define new forms of protected area where necessary and meaningful. The involvement of the local population in a new protected area policy with horizon 2030 is essential.

Long-term effects are the implementation of an Alpine-wide coordinated protected area policy and an increasingly up-to-date adaptation of protected area management and the types of protected areas as well as their protection status with regard to informed and responsible nature conservation.

 

AlpsLife Logo Standard medium

 

Protect Alpine Life by monitoring and managing Alpine biodiversity for the future: “Observing globally, acting locally”.

With these words in mind, on October 7th and 8th the partners of AlpsLife gathered at Eurac Research headquarters (Bozen-Bolzano, IT) for the kick-off meeting of this new Interreg Alpine Space project.

AlpsLife promotes a common understanding of biodiversity processes in the Alps, with the aim of enhancing conservation and management measures, mainly in protected areas. Alpine biodiversity is threatened by climate and land use change, while the variety of monitoring schemes at different levels and the lack of Alpine-wide ecological indicators compromise the effectiveness of protection and restoration efforts.

AlpsLife will therefore create a methodology for the comparability and interoperability of biodiversity monitoring schemes across the Alps. It will then test the results in practice and adjust them to the needs of Alpine protected areas. By doing so, AlpsLife ensures the long-term integration of project achievements into their management measures. This will also help Alpine policymakers comply with international environmental commitments.

The kick-off meeting gave project coordinators the opportunity to present in detail the roadmap of AlpsLife (from its official start in September 2024 until its conclusion in August 2027). It also allowed all 12 partners to share their expectations for the project. Moreover, ALPARC engaged in a fruitful exchange with the representatives of the Alpine national parks, discussing the next steps for identifying common biodiversity indicators and for translating harmonized monitoring into effective management strategies.

 

For more information about the project: https://alparc.org/alpslife

 

This project is co-funded by the European Union through the Interreg Alpine Space programme, which supports cross-border cooperation projects between seven Alpine countries. ALPARC is co-founded in this project by the German Ministry for the Environment (BMUV).

 

© photo: Andrea De Giovanni / Eurac Research

vendredi, 15 novembre 2024 10:57

Sondrio Festival 2024

The 38th edition of the Sondrio Festival (IT) will take place from 15th to 24th November 2024, in Sondrio, Italy!
Click here for more information.

In 2024 we celebrate the 10th edition of Youth at the Top and the registration is now open!
The 2024 edition will take place on July 18th 2024 (and the night of July 18th to 19th). On this common date, protected areas all around the Alps and the Carpathians are invited to take groups of curious kids and teens to the mountains, to experiment their surroundings in a new and creative way. Organizations, protected areas, youth associations, local professionals, and refuges are invited to take part in this international event and to plan educational activities on this year's common theme: "Alpine Flowers and Pollinator Insects".

Organizations willing to join the project should fill up the online form before April 30th.

 

What is Youth at the Top?

Youth at the Top is an international event that aims to help young people (re)discover nature and connect to their mountain heritage. It is organized through local events that take place simultaneously in different countries across the Alps and Carpathians. It has a highly symbolic dimension as hundreds of young people go out and experience nature on a single date through an overnight stay in the mountains. Each registered organization is invited to plan a hike, an overnight stay in the mountains, an activity on a common topic and other educational activities to help the younger generation reconnect with the mountain environment. The project leaves a lot of leeway to the participating organizations to organize local events according to their goals and capabilities.

 

ALPARC has been responsible for the general management and international communication of the project since its very beginning.

The 10th edition of Youth at the Top is organized by ALPARC with the financial support from the German Ministry of the Environment and  the Principality of Monaco.

 

Click here to open the Youth at the Top website.

Click here to watch the official video.

 

The “Fotografare il Parco” contest, an event organised by the Italian National Parks of Stelvio, Gran Paradiso, Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise and the French Parc national de la Vanoise, with the patronage of Alparc (the Alpine Network of Protected Areas) and Federparchi, is now in its 17th edition.
 
After the success of the previous editions – over 3,500 photographs were taken in the last one – the contest confirms its four categories: The Park Landscapes, The Park Wildlife, The Park Microcosmos and Natural Details, and The Park Plant World. For the overall and category winners there are cash prizes, stays in the four protected areas, and subscriptions to "La Rivista della Natura”, the contest’s media partner. Two special prizes are also up for grabs: one will be awarded to the image considered to be the most representative of the interaction between man and nature, while a second will be awarded to the photograph that best represents, interprets, and highlights the ecological-environmental crises marking our current historical period.

Click here to read more.

The La Vanoise and Les Écrins national parks celebrate their 60th and 50th anniversaries this year! Founded in 1963, La Vanoise is the oldest French national park. This anniversary will be celebrated in the form of events and meetings throughout the year. In Les Ecrins, on the 27 March, around 150 current and former elected representatives, technical partners, and staff celebrated in Vallouise.

▪ Read more about the anniversaries in La Vanoise and Les Ecrins.

 

© Photo: Ecrins National Park / Vanoise National Park

 

lundi, 10 juillet 2023 11:39

Video Contest Youth at the Top 2023

We are pleased to announce that this year, there will be the first Youth at the Top video contest!

The participants can give free rein to their creativity and record their experiences and impressions during the excursion through video recordings. Afterwards a jury selects the “best videos” which will be rewarded. The videos have to relate to this year’s theme “Forest – the Almighty”. Please check out Annex 4 to find details and instructions for the video contest.

Read here for more information.

 

Focusing on watercourses and more process dynamics, protected areas in the ALPARC CENTR’ALPS area work on an overview on management measures in order to initiate a transfer of activities and to set up a cooperation platform. Those activities take place in the current project "Biodiversity Conservation in Times of Climate Change".

You can download the project sheet below.

 

Photo: © S. Weizenegger

jeudi, 16 novembre 2023 10:42

Sondrio Festival 2023

The 37th edition of the Sondrio Festival (IT) took place from the 16 to the 26 November 2023!

Click here for more information.

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ALPARC - Le Réseau Alpin des Espaces Protégés

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