La Rete delle Aree Protette Alpine
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 9th edition of Youth At the Top took place on the 13th and 14th of July 2023, throughout several Alpine and Carpathian protected areas and natural sites. Kids and teens were invited to join local events to take part in this international initiative. Each group partook in a mountain hike and an overnight stay that they won't forget. The event is the opportunity to raise awareness on Nature conservation and preservation among the youngests. For the 2023 edition, these questions were addressed within the framework of the common theme "Forest - the Almighty".
Click here for more information and results!
See also:
https://fr-fr.facebook.com/YATevent/
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.
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
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
The OSA Mapping Report is ready for download in the section below.
The Stables of the Fort Bard (AO) will display, from 26 March to 25 April 2023, the winning and mentioned photographs of the 16th edition of the international nature photography contest “Fotografare il Parco”, organized by Gran Paradiso, Stelvio, Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise Italian National Parks, and de la Vanoise French National Park, with the patronage of Alparc, Federparchi and the participation of the media partner “La Rivista della Natura”.
Entrance to the exhibition is included in the admission ticket to the Fort. The exhibition can be attended during the fort’s usual opening hours: Tuesday to Friday (from 10.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m.); Saturday, Sunday, and holidays (from 10.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m.). Closed on Mondays. Special openings: Monday 10 and Monday 24 April.
More information about the contest on www.fotografareilparco.it
The 37th edition of the Sondrio Festival (IT) is taking place from the 16 to the 26 November 2023!
The Sondrio Festival is an unique international film festival, mainly dedicated to nature films, of high scientific and cinematographic level, made in protected areas worldwide. It takes place every year since 1987 in Sondrio, Italy, in November, for two weeks.
Registrations for documentaries are now open until the 19 May 2023! The festival is open to film-makers of documentaries featuring naturalistic, ethnographic and managerial aspects of National Parks, Nature Reserves and other types of Protected Areas, classified as such by a national or local authority.
Read here for more information.
Youth at the Top event is back for its ninth edition and the registration is now open! The 2023 edition will take place on July 13 th 2023 (and the night of July 13th to 14th). 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: "Forest – the Almighty".
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 9th edition of Youth at the Top is organized by ALPARC with the financial support from the German Ministry of the Environment, the Agence nationale de la cohésion des territoires of France and the Principality of Monaco.
Click here to open the Youth at the Top website.
Click here to watch the official video.
ALPARC has been requested by the Ötztal Nature Park (A) for a short enquiry concerning remaining glaciers surfaces in the alpine protected areas. Beside the fact that this statistics may be interesting for the parks, it gives the opportunity for a knowledge and management exchange on the topic if wished which can be proposed by ALPARC.
A survey was conducted within protected areas and parks and on glacier loss during the last decades among ALPARC members. ALPARC unified the received data and compiled it in tables. We expressly want to thank all the parks and protected areas participating on this issue with very quick responses and as well the Swiss Parks Network gathering the data for Switzerland.
The tables can be downloaded below.
