20 partners , representing about 60 protected areas from 6 Alpine States, will present all together on the European Day of Parks, the 24th of May 2012, the multivision show of the Alpine protected areas network ALPARC .

With the duration of about 20 minutes, the multivision is addressed to a wide public and invites everybody, through music and pictures, to discover the diversity of the Alpine protected areas, the Alpine landscapes and cultures as well as its cultural heritage.

The 20 project partners will organise from the 24th of May on, a projection of the multivision show in their regions, especially during the following summer months. An Alpine-wide presentation of the multivison is planned for the Alpine Week , in September 2012. 

 Please notice that the multivison will be placed at the disposal of all protected areas of the ALPARC network for projection in each information centre and during events.

For further information or questions, please contact: marie.stoeckel@alparc.org 

 The nature park Weißbach is situated between Loferer, Leoganger and Reiter Steinbergen in the region of Salzburg (A) and is bounded to the nature reserve “Northern Kalkhochalpen” on the Salzburg side and to Bavaria by the national park and, respectively, by the biosphere reserve Berchtesgaden .

In 2011, the XI Alpine Conference nominated this alliance of the protected areas „Berchtesgaden-Salzburg” as a pilot region for the ecological Alpine network. The trans-boundary cooperation between protected areas is an important aspect and is shown in various projects like cross-border hiking events or common design of information points in the border area.  

The nature park and its alpine pastures

 Next to the natural monument Seisenbergklamm, the significant landscape elements are different types of mountain forest, Alpine pastures and rock heaps.

In this landscape mosaic of the nature park, which was created in 2007, you can find many species, partly protected, of animals and plants as various types of gentian and orchids (yellow gentian as the basis for the traditional Kallbrunner gentian schnapps), different butterfly species (Apollo) or the Golden Eagle.

The Alpine pastures are farmed for more than 600 years and are the fundament of local products and sustainable tourist offers. Characteristic for this region are the agricultural communities of Bavarian farmers and those of the Salzburg area. In cooperation with the nature park, they developed the information point on the Alpine pasture Kallbrunn and guided theme hikes. Furthermore the community offers culinary events as the Alpine pasture cheese Kallbrunn.  

Next to the awareness raising measures as the visitors program and a nature workshop, the association of the nature park Weissbach strengths, since 2011, the cooperation with its disseminators. Local and organic farmers, selected by special criteria, support the idea of the Nature Park and use the weekly market day, established in January 2012, as a communication platform between producers and consumers.

Park's identity card

 Since 2008, the French National Parks and the insurance company GMF are working together on a program to adapt the accessibility of the French national parks and taking into account the four different groups of disabled persons: physically, mental or visually handicapped and deaf-and-dump persons.

This ambitious program today includes 9 French National Parks:

• Modification of information centers and their entries and recreation areas
• Adaptation of some paths, view - and observation points
• Development of educational strategies for environmental education, to explore the area on certain routes

A video report, 10 minutes long, shows you different implementation measures and facilities in French national parks:

Take a look at the video report!

The video is only available in French. Nevertheless, as demonstrated by the images, the video shows interesting opportunities for accessibility.

Zoom on the 3 Alpine national parks:

• A section of the video concerning the Vanoise national park, 1 min 40.

• A section of the video concerning the Ecrins national park, 1 min 40.

• A section of the video concerning the Mercantour national park, 1 min 42.

Source : The french national parks http://www.parcsnationaux.fr 

Links

• Dossier de presse: « La nature en partage ». Les parcs nationaux de France accessibles à tous avec la GMF
• Parcs nationaux de France 

It's already 17 years that rangers of protected areas from the Alps meet up every year to commemorate the death of one of their colleagues, Danilo Re, who died in service. This event represents an opportunity to exchange, to meet, to consider partnership projects... or just to feel "united": together for the Alps!
This year was the Park of Adamello (I) the host of this important Alps event. 39 teams from different alpine parks, and beyond, have enthusiastically participated in a rich and varied program!
The team of the Swiss National Park is who won the sports competition, followed by the National Park Berchtesgaden (D) and the Triglav National Park (SLO)

The Paths of the Alps: signposting, maintenance and safety

The thematic meeting , one of the highlights of this event, was this year focused on the "Paths of the Alps: signposting, maintenance and safety". A topic that has been dealt with different points of view and which allowed participants to have a more overall view about how alpine paths are maintained, managed and restored, providing new ideas and concrete examples too.
Several rangers have stressed the importance of security as a central theme of their work. It has been regrettably noted that hikers in mountains have lost the “sense of risk” and that they tend, in case of accident, to bear the responsibility to the managers of protected areas. People have to learn to live in the mountains with natural hazards! This is an important mission for the rangers, who have the opportunity to raise awareness of families in this direction.

Les résultats 

 Here below you will find some summaries of the interventions, the results for each sport, the overall ranking and the link to the photo gallery of this event. All PowerPoint presentations will be downloadable from the website: www.danilo-re.net

… See you in 2013!

We are waiting for you, numerous, for the edition in 2013, which will be held in the National Park of Vanoise (F). 

 "My clime-mate" is an international exchange programme that is part of the dynAlp-climate project, which is focussed on climate issues. The programme is the brainchild of the "Alliance in Alps " network of local authorities and "Youth in Action ", which also fund the project.

The programme brings together young people from 10 municipalities which are members of the Alliance in the Alps. The young people considered the subject of climate change in the Alps, planned meetings and set up joint climate-related activities.

Young people from Austria, France, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland were actively involved in the project, organising a wide range of events and activities. They also set up exchange schemes, which provided an opportunity to discuss the subject in detail

At the end of October, all the young people and moderators gathered in Sörenberg (Switzerland) for the final meeting. They compared notes on their expereiences and discussed where to go next as the programme drew to an end

For more information, go to http://www.alpenallianz.org

Source: Youth summit on climate issues, Entlebuch (German, French, Italian)

 Every protected area has an emblem (logo) which it uses to identify the documents, infrastructure and services that it provides. Third parties are often authorised to use the logo as part of the park brand. This serves to promote and endorse services and products provided by regional operators and producers whose methods complement conservation activities (natural, cultural and social environments).

On 5 and 6 May 2011, staff from around 20 protected areas met in Santa Sofia (Foreste Casentinesi National Park, Italy) to discuss the benefits of park branding and how this fits in with European legislation and EU quality labels and to compare their experiences. The participants sought to reach a consensus on the role and use of brandings as a tool, with a view to developing a standard methodology for all protected areas, thereby creating transparency for consumers. During the workshop, it became apparent that the park brand has a vital role to play in raising public awareness of traditional products, which are often produced using methods that diverge considerably from modern business management criteria. The park brand also offers economic benefits for local operators and can reduce conflict with the park management body.

There are very different approaches to the subject in the Alps (see ALPARC Dossier 11 on environmental contracts and quality measurement tools ), which can sometimes be at odds with certain European guidelines (PDO, PDI, TSG). 

 The workshop documentation is available in Italian at: Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi - I marchi di qualità e le aree protette

For more information, contact Dr. Carlo Pedrazzoli (Tel. +39 05 43 97 13 75 ; e-mail: carlo.pedrazzoli@parcoforestecasentinesi.it )

Links:

• Quality policy: Geographical indications and traditional specialities
• The "Regional Nature Park" trademark

ALPARC invites you to discover or rediscover its latest publications.

1. The state of renewable energy in the parks

This publication, conceived within the framework of a project in partnership with the Swiss Parks Network and funded by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) , aims to improve the management of protected areas by helping managers to define the most appropriate and effective measures.

This catalogue of indicators is now available in the four Alpine languages and English. To consult without moderation! 

2. The state of renewable energy in the parks

Based on interviews with 21 alpine protected areas, the report “Renewable energies in Alpine protected areas” shows the conflicts between the protection and the use regarding the production of renewable energies as well as possible strategies. The study has been elaborated by the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences (SAS) with the support of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC) and has been funded by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN).

The report, available in a trilingual uncut version and a concise version in German, French or Italian, can be downloaded at: www.parkforschung.ch

 GLOCHAMOST is the follow-up initiative of UNESCO-MAB to the GLOCHAMORE Project, which has been set up in 2003 and which was founded by the European Commission and sponsored by UNESCO-MAB in collaboration with the Mountain Research Initiative and the University of Vienna (Austria).

Its aim is to implement selected key research areas of the GLOCHAMORE Research Strategy to develop adaptation strategies for mountain biosphere reserves in the context of global and climate change.  

 The following 5 key research areas provide a framework for research and knowledge sharing on the impacts of global/climate change on mountain biosphere reserves:

• Climate: Climate change including the frequency of extreme events (item 3.1 of the GLOCHAMORE Research Strategy)
• Biodiversity: Key fauna and flora (item 6e of the Research Strategy)
• Water: Water quantity (item 4a of the Research Strategy)
• Land Use Change: Understanding the origins and impacts of land use (item 2b of Research Strategy)
• Mountain Economies: Employment and income (item 9a of the Research Strategy)

Two alpine biosphere reserves were selected to participate on this project:
- Biosphere Reserve Berchtesgadener Land , Germany
- Biosphere Reserve Val Mustair , Switzerland

Further information to the projects and to the project report 2011:
- GLOCHAMORE
- GLOCHAMOST
- report 2011: Berchtesgadener Land
- report 2011: Val Mustair 

 The 7th ALPARC general meeting in October 2010 in Zernez unanimously resolved that the Task Force Protected Areas should remain attached to the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention, and appealed to all Alpine states to actively seek broader joint financing for this unique inter-state instrument. To do this, resources, expertise and political support will be needed.

We sent the meeting’s resolution to all member states of the Alpine Convention and their committees. 

 The Alpine Convention organisms base all of their actions and decisions on the principle of unanimity, which means that even a majority does not suffice to push through a measure. Thus at the 44th meeting of the Permanent Committee of the Alpine Convention, a resolution was adopted calling for extension of the agreement whereby the Task Force Protected Areas is attached to the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention until 31 December 2013 only. In addition, it was recommended to the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC) and its International Steering Committee that, using the French report as a basis, they define, in time for the 12th Alpine Conference, the best solution for ensuring that the Task Force will be able to continue its work after 2013.

Though we were unable to push through our Zernez resolution, we did not stay inactive – a working group has been formed within our International Steering Committee which, by meeting and making contact with ministries and other governmental organisms, is endeavoring to endow the entire network with a new structure and legal status, and to integrate it even more robustly into the organisms of the Alpine Convention. (It has already emerged in this regard that the founding of a European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation, with its myriad states and protected areas, is an unrealistic approach.) Our top priority is to come up with a structure and status that will enable all of us to do even more, including lobbying, for the protected areas, with a view to moving forward with implementation of the Alpine Convention in cooperation with local citizens.

Michael Vogel, chairman of the ALPARC International Steering Committee

Over 16 years ago, in October 1995, the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC) was founded in Gap in southern France. During the first assembly, the Alpine protected areas managers discussed various nature conservation and regional development issues and agreed to communicate and work with each other in the future. Gradually, this gave rise to a network the likes of which had never existed before on a state level in the Alps. Since then, almost all protected areas with their own staff have been involved in one or other ALPARC campaign. Language barriers were overcome, common interests discovered and differences led to learning opportunities and an exchange concerning protected area management methods in all Alpine states. Nothing like that had ever been experienced before. A network of participants with definitive objectives, continuous work groups and joint public relations work had been formed.

From Grenoble to Chambéry passing by Gap

At first still affiliated to the University of Grenoble, the first projects were launched in 1995. Soon, the Network set up its own coordination team based in the Les Ecrins National Park that would be responsible for coordinating international activities in the protected areas. In 2006 this branch of the network, the Task Force Protected Areas (TFPA), became an affiliate of the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention as part of a voluntary contribution of France (state and regional) to the implementation of the Alpine Convention. Thus took place since the founding of the network an ongoing adjustment of status in order to fulfil the process and development requirements of the Alpine Convention institutions.

A legal structure

The ALPARC Network’s strong project-based orientation and the dynamism and flexibility expected from its partners have now led to a further development. The ALPARC Network requires a legal basis and structure in order to not only realise larger joint projects but in particular to also raise the international presence and significance of the Alpine protected areas. The Network’s main objective remains making an effective and practical contribution to the implementation of the Alpine Convention, in particular to the nature conservation protocol. 

 At their 7th General Meeting on 21 October 2010, the members of ALPARC adopted their Zernez Resolution, which unanimously endorses the concept that the Task Force Protected Areas should remain attached to the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention. In so doing, they also urgently called upon the 11th Alpine Conference in 2011 to give this measure their vote of confidence, in keeping with the will of the 9th Alpine Conference; and appealed to all Alpine states to adopt measures aimed at seeking broader joint financing for the unique international and inter-state instrument that is ALPARC.

The Permanent Committee of the Alpine Convention was not greatly impressed by this resolution, and at their 44th meeting on 28-29 October in Innsbruck, Austria, decided to extend the Task Force Protected Areas agreement until the end of 2013 only. Hence the Permanent Committee recommended to the Alpine Network of Protected Areas and the International Steering Committee that, using the French report as a basis, they define, in time for the 12th Alpine Conference, the best option for ensuring that the Task Force will be able to continue its work after 2013.

 This recommendation was endorsed by the 11th Alpine Conference in Brdo, Slovakia in early March. In this context, various Alpine states stated clearly that in their view ALPARC cannot remain attached to the Permanent Secretariat and that this is non-negotiable.

The French Report of June 2009 concerning the Task Force Protected Areas investigated various options, whereby only three turned out to be viable in terms of the legal status for the continued existence of the Task Force in the post-2013 period:

1. A cross-border or inter-regional association (national association law)
2. The European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) and
3. Remain attached to the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention.

At its meeting of 17-18 February 2011 in Triesenberg, Liechtenstein, ALPARC’s International Steering Committee established a “Future of Alparc” working group, whose brief is to conduct an inquiry into the relevant legal status and financing related matters. The working group members are as follows: Michael Vogel, chairman (Germany); the two vice-chairmen Alain Brandeis (France) and Bruno Stephan Walder (Switzerland); and members Hermann Stotter (Austria), Christian Schwoehrer (France), Massimo Bocca (Italy), Elio Tompetrini (Italy) and Martin Šolar (Slovakia).

The working group has held three meetings to date – on 20 April and 12 July in Chambéry and on 25 October 2011 in Bern – each of which was attended by a different constellation of representatives of the Task Force. The first meeting was devoted to a detailed discussion of the current situation and the various options available, and the matters that are of most interest and concern to the Task Force members were examined closely.

During the second meeting, the views of the various Alpine states were considered and visions, objectives and recommendations for the Task Force’s priorities going forward were formulated; the contribution that ALPARC can potentially make to protected Alpine areas and for the Alpine Convention were defined; and an action plan and communication strategy were hammered out. It clearly emerged from this meeting that the time is ripe for ALPARC to make its presence felt and take action to ensure that the organization has a major say in future decisions.

This past July an extensive meeting, which was attended by the focal point of the French delegation, was held with Mission Operationelle Transnationale (MOT) at their headquarters in Paris. MOT has extensive experience in providing support for the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation. The conclusion drawn by MOT based on an analysis of the arguments for and against the aforementioned option 2 (European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation) couldn’t be more unequivocal: establishment of a European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation for the Alpine Network of Protected Areas would be an extremely lengthy process and is totally unrealistic for myriad reasons.

As a result, at the request of the Future of ALPARC working group, at its 20 September 2011 meeting in Berchtesgaden, the International Steering Committee adopted a resolution advocating that options 1 and 3 be pursued as a single package. This resolution calls for establishment of an ALPARC association with robust attachment of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas to the organs of the Alpine Convention. Thus the basic thrust of the Zernez Resolution can be implemented, although not in its absolute form involving attachment to the Permanent Secretariat.

At is third session, the Task Force promulgated a three-pronged strategy for ALPARC: In addition to the protected Alpine areas, the regions should also become members of ALPARC and a memorandum of understanding (MOU) should be adopted that forms part of the Alpine Convention and its organs. The Task Force defined the followingpriority areas:

1. Biodiversity; networking; ecosystem services,
2. Regional economic development; quality of life,
3. Communication, education and awareness raising

with a particular focus on youth in Alpine regions.

An initial survey sent to ALPARC member states concerning their attitudes and concerns as regards the thematic priorities of ALPARC going forward, as well as the financing options available to the organization, yielded no results. Hence the ALPARC president and director will be holding discussions over the next few months with various Alpine states and regions, based on a recommendation concerning the thrust of ALPARC’s efforts going forward. The outcome of these consultations will be a major determinant of the thrust of the recommendation that the International Steering Committee and ALPARC will submit to the Permanent Committee at its 49th meeting in May 2012.

ALPARC is swinging into action once more, by conducting an active dialogue with ALPARC member states concerning financing and other relevant matters. ALPARC is also founding a new association and has recommended close cooperation with the organs of the Alpine Treaty.

Bruno Stephan Walder, vice chairman of the ALPARC International Steering Committee

 Structuring a network comprising hundreds of institutions and protected-area administrators is a daunting task. This probably explains why ALPARC has achieved such great success as a kind of informal communal undertaking, albeit one that is also a de facto organization.

The new strategy entailing greater cooperation and integration with the Alpine Convention organisms, and at the same time greater independence as an association, aims to structure the existing organization from a legal standpoint. To this end, the growing number of projects and queries coming from the protected areas will be coordinated more efficiently. The sole valid legal status that such a communal undertaking can lay claim to is that of an association (in the legal sense of the term).  

 But as there is no type of association – for example under European law – that would be a better fit with ALPARC’s international structure, ALPARC’s International Steering Committee recommends that the founding meeting of the “ALPARC Association” should be held during the next Alpine week and at the 12th Alpine Conference in Switzerland . This would enable representatives of a maximum number of internationally active protected Alpine areas to gather with the aim of pooling their goals, energy and resources. A well structured network of active members (national representatives included) from throughout the Alpine region would serve the cause of productive cooperation and would open up a broader-based financing stream.

We call upon all protected areas to actively participate in the foundation meeting of the ALPARC association on 4 September 2012 in Val Poschavio, Switzerland. This founding meeting and general meeting of the network will also provide an opportunity for all concerned to discuss the underlying themes of ALPARC and to collaboratively develop key ALPARC projects going forward. It is vital that we strengthen this newly established network together. But to do this, the various protected areas simply must do their share – which means the following: lobbying local and regional political decision makers; disseminating information in the relevant regions, cantons and states concerning the collaborative efforts that the protected areas have been engaged in over the past 16 years, and the fruits these efforts have borne; doing PR concerning the importance of protected areas for the entire Alpine region and the role that each of the various protected areas play in the network; and proactively helping to find sources of financing for joint projects and events.

The financial burden of the joint activities in protected Alpine areas has been borne in its entirety so far by France and its alpine regions Rhone-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur, as well as by project-specific support from Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, Liechtenstein and private sponsors (MAVA Foundation, Heidehof Stiftung). Moreover, since 2003 the city of Chambéry has generously made the relevant infrastructure available free of charge to the Task Force Protected Areas at Maison des parcs et de la Montagne. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our French partners for their generous assistance.

But the time has come to establish a more robust platform that will foster international cooperation and development of the resources needed for it, in keeping with the slogan, Alpine Protected Areas: Together for the Alps!