La Rete delle Aree Protette Alpine
3 staff members of the French National Park Vanoise have been held hostage by sheep farmers
The president, the Director and several other staff members of La Vanoise National Park have been held hostage since the evening of the 1st of September by about 50 sheep farming representatives of the French community of Bramans.
The sheep farmers are demanding further measures from the French government to protect their herds against wolf attacks: they want a shooting permit in case of acute attacks on herds, as well as an additional shooting permit for 5 more wolves in the Department of Savoie until the end of the year, including in the core zone of the National Park.
Even though the return of the wolf to the French Alps brings with it a number of problems for the ranchers that have to be taken seriously, the farmers´ current method of undue deprivation of freedom is totally unacceptable. No occupational group has the right to act this way.
The National Park administrators and staff of Alpine protected areas take the concerns of ranchers very seriously. However, for a regulation of wildlife even outside protected areas there have to be clear guidelines on how to ensure a viable population status or on unreasonable damages despite the presence of herd protection measures.
France has one of the best developed and probably most coherent National Park concepts in all of Europe, which is distinguished in particular by the strict and efficient protection of core zones. This protection must not be weakened, or the credibility of nature protection and of a sustainable nature protection policy could be jeopardized.
Despite empathising with the farmers´difficult situation, ALPARC decidedly disapproves of their current detention of officials of the oldest French National Park.
For the promotion of the International Mountain Day 2015 – Friday 11 December, the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention organize the "Reading Mountains"event.
"Reading Mountains" is an initiative of the German Presidency of the Alpine Convention 2015-2016 . The idea is to initiate events dedicated to reading Alpine literature in various places around the Alps on International Mountain Day (11 December). The goal of the initiative is to promote modern Alpine literature and Alpine Culture which is an essential part of the Alps as we know them. Each organization participating in the initiative will choose the alpine literature for its event.
To participate in the event and to learn more about it, please visit the website of the Alpine Convention at:
http://www.alpconv.org/fr/organization/presidency/DE2015/IMD/default.html
ALPARC supported in particular the event organised in Chambery. To discover all the interesting programme of this event please visit : http://www.chambery-tourisme.com/noesit/!/fiche/lire-les-montagnes-720902
The nature international photo contest of the Stelvio, Gran Paradiso, Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise and Vanoise National Parks is back.
Registration for the 11th edition of the international photo contest “Fotografare il Parco” has opened.
The contest is organized by the Stelvio, the Gran Paradiso, the Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise and the Vanoise National Parks with the financial support of Swarovski Optik Italia and the support of Alparc (The Alpine Network of Protected Areas) and Federparchi.
The four protected areas are glad to welcome in their territories all those passionate about photography and nature who would like to take pictures of the biodiversity heritage of the national parks and who want to show their work to the large public.
The winners will be awarded with considerable prizes, offered by the parks.
The registration is open until 30th of November 2015. As specified in the rules, each author can participate in each of the five categories and is allowed to present a maximum of four pictures for each category. In the contest, either colour or black and white photos are allowed.
Participation is free of charge.
The rules and the instructions on how to take part in the contest are available at www.fotografareilparco.it.
For any further information about the contest, please contact:
| Consorzio del Parco Nazionale dello Stelvio Konsortium Nationalpark Stilfserjoch Tel. ++39 0342900811 stelviopark@fotografareilparco.it |
Parc national de la Vanoise Tel. ++033-0479628964 pn.vanoise@fotografareilparco.it |
| Ente Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso Tel. ++39 0118606211 pngp@fotografareilparco.it |
Swarovski Optik Italia srl Tel. ++39 0458349069 info@swarovskioptik.it |
| Ente Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise Tel. ++39 08639113220 parcoabruzzo@fotografareilparco.it |
The first edition of the international “Youth at the Top” project was a big hit!
With a little help from the sunny weather in the whole Alpine Arc, groups of young people have participated with great enthusiasm in the first edition of this innovative project: sharing a physical, human, cultural and artistic experience in the mountains at the same time.
The 16th and the 17th of July 2015, a total of 27 events took place simultaneously in 5 alpine countries: France, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, and Germany. More than 370 young people aged between 7 and 28 and 105 adults (guides, rangers, families, educators, artists, artisans...) participated across the whole Alpin arc. The first edition of “Youth at the top” was organized by ALPARC and Educ’Alpes with the financial support of the German Ministry for the Environment.
The participants had the chance to experience an overnight stay in a refuge or in a camp and to discover, through different artistic educational actions, the importance and the value of the alpine mountain territories. The activities organized within each event differed from one place to another: rock painting, land art, creative writing, wooden sculptures, light painting, tales, team games, star observation, walking to a summit, meetings with local peoples and many more…
A young participant from MJC Briançon in the PN Ecrins (France) declares: “I really liked spending two days with friends, sleeping outdoors, and going to the mountains during the summer holidays! We saw a refuge in a 8000-year-old cave, and I really liked the tale”.
“I did not think I would make it… It has been a long time since I last went to the mountains” Lucie, RN Passy
Whereas each event consisted of different activities, all of them shared the same aim: to bring youth from 5 alpine countries to the mountains simultaneously, in different Alpine Protected Areas and natural sites. The idea was to go beyond administrative and language barriers by considering the Alps as one region.
Furthermore, as most of the young participants are living in the region close to a protected area, the initiative gave them the chance to discover new areas that they may never have seen before. On the other hand, the local professionals (refuges, transport, et cetera) also benefited from taking part in the event.
Discover what went on in each of the 27 events that were part of the project and have a look at the pictures from each area at:
http://youth-at-the-top.org/en/contributions
or visit the Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/YATevent
After this success story, the organizers are already planning the next edition of “Youth at the Top”. A retrospective video dedicated to the 2015 edition will be published soon!
Let's meet in 2016!
REGISTER NOW !
Organized in the frame of the 20 years’ celebration of ALPARC, the workshop aims to identify new challenges for the protected areas for the next years: challenges in nature protection and regional development and new governance models for a responsible management of natural spaces and cultural landscapes in the Alps.
the detailed programme is available for download below
16:00 Arrival and Welcome in the House of the Mountains
16:30 Guided Visit of the house of the Mountains (Haus der Berge) by Michael Vogel,
director of the National Park and ALPARC President
18:30 Alpine Aperitif “The Best of the Alps”
Projection of the Multivision “For the Alps”
Every participant brings a speciality from his/her region (drink & food, sweet & salty)
20:00 Common official Dinner invitation by Germany (BMUB)
8:30 Official Welcome by local authorities, the Alpine Convention and its Presidency and ALPARC
Introduction
9:30 The future of the protected areas – challenges and visions in an alpine context
key-notes speeches and discussion with the plenary – a shared vision for the future
14:00 Presentation of the paper proposal “Alpine Protected Areas 2030”
14:45 World Café session
– Excursion ( in parallel to the Alparc Council meeting)
– Permanent Committee of the Alpine Convention, participation of a delegation of the ALPARC council and Excursion
Berchtesgaden National Park - Germany
The CIPRA annual conference, « Agir pour le changement! Ne pas en rester aux bonnes intentions » take place the 25-26 September 2015 in Ruggell/LI .
A conference focused on environment protection and sustainable development.
For further information please visit: http://www.cipra.org/en
ALPARC and the Alpine Protected Areas will be represented at the Expo Milano 2015 with projections of the Multivision “For the Alps
The Slovenian Pavilion hosts the Multivision during the Mountain week, from the 1st to the 14th of June 2015.
More information about EXPO2015
http://www.expo2015.org/en/index.html
More information about the Multivision
http://grafimedia.fr/multivision/index.php?lang=EN
Following the devastating earthquake which has claimed more than 7,000 victims, Nepal is in imminent need of help and assistance.
Alparc is joining the support for the populations of Nepal appeal made by Minister Barbara Hendricks, President of the Alpine Convention, and Markus Reiterer, the Convention’s Secretary General.
At the following link you can see a list of organisations involved in imminent aid to victims.
While urgent humanitarian aid is being deployed in Nepal, it is clear that the country will need support guaranteeing sustainable reconstruction for the years to come. For that reason the Alpine Convention has begun work with a view to contributing in the longer term. More detailed information will soon be available on the Convention’s site.
The reintroduction of the lynx into Austria is being undermined. Recently the carcass of a dead lynx was found at a taxidermist’s and the Hunting Federation is opposed to any further introduction.
Within the framework of lynx reintroduction in Austria, the adult male Juro had been captured in Switzerland to be released in the Kalkalpen National Park in December 2011, where he would be reunited with Freia, a female also originally from Switzerland.
Austria is home to very few lynx which reproduce only in the Mühlviertel, an area situated in the north of the country. The Kalkalpen National Park therefore plays a key role in the reintroduction of this feline into the Alps: if the park’s lynx breed in the near future it would allow a genetic exchange between the lynx of the Murau in Styria and those of the Mühlviertel.
The two felines are equipped with tracking collars to allow their movements to be followed. At this link you will find their movements mapped out: for Juro, there have been no new data since June 2013. The males Klaus and Pankraz as well as Jugo, the son of Juro and Freia, have also disappeared. The females Kora, Skadi and Freia have only been able to mate with their own offspring, which puts the genetic diversity of this population at risk. Freia was photographed in January 2015 with 2 young lynx.
Articles in the Austrian newspaper “Kurier” of 14/04/2015, as well as in the “Krone” of 17/04/2015 mention the discoveries made by crime police at a taxidermist’s, where they found the frozen carcass of a lynx. The taxidermist stated that the trophy had been brought in for preparation by a keen hunter whose defence is that he mistook it for a fox …
Erich Mayrhofer, director of the Kalkalpen National Park has declared that this news exceeds his greatest fears. He is worried that this investigation will not be the last: genetic tests will reveal the identity of the Lynx. Despite the condemnation of this act by the assistant director of the Hunting Federation, the organisation is opposed to the introduction of another male. The head of the environmental crime team, Othmar Coser, finds himself facing a “wall of silence” on the part of the hunters …
See also the European Wilderness Society article at this link
Source: Kalkalpen National Park Newsletter at this link
The alpine Pilot Regions for ecological connectivity stay among the working priorities of the Platform “Ecological Network” of the Alpine Convention.
After the nomination of a new transboundary pilot region between Italy and Slovenia at the last Alpine Conference in November 2014 in Torino, the Platform “Ecological Network” of the Alpine Convention underlined its determination to work in close cooperation with the existing pilot regions and to support the nomination of new pilot regions.
The German-French presidency of the Platform under the chair of Bettina Hedden-Dunkhorst (BfN) has proposed a series of activities to implement the mandate of the working group: the cooperation with other Platforms of the Alpine Convention, an active participation in the work done for the alpine macro regional strategy (EUSALP) as well as a strong support to the development of new European projects on the topic of ecological connectivity.
The Platform Ecological network is also involved in the European effort of establishing “green infrastructure” participating and contributing to the Working Group “Green Infrastructure and Restoration” and by presenting the alpine activities to a European public at the upcoming Green Week that takes place in Brussels in June 2015.
Web pages:
Page of the EU Commission on green infrastructure: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/ecosystems/index_en.htm
Platform “Ecological Network “of the Alpine Convention: http://www.alpconv.org/fr/organization/groups/WGEcologicalNetwork/default.html
20 years already – the Alpine Network of Protected Areas, ALPARC, a longstanding partner of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region, celebrates this important anniversary this year. Our region is a founding member of the network and from the beginning has been heavily involved in the international exchanges connected to our regional network of protected areas.
The dynamism of the ALPARC Network, led by only 5 people, also shows its effectiveness by the completion of large-scale European projects, notably within the framework of European territorial cooperation. The Econnect and Greenalps projects have demonstrated all the competence and know-how of the permanent team. The governance, under the participative presidency of Michael Vogel, has also shown itself to be totally pertinent. In addition, the network has just submitted three projects following the first call by the Alpine Space programme. ALPARC will also be represented at the Milan Universal Exposition by “Multivision for the Alps”, bringing the image of the Alpine parks to the whole world and in July will proceed with the coordination of the “Youth at the Top” event which will be organised simultaneously in all the Alpine countries.
The network, directed very efficiently from its beginning by Guido Plassmann, today constitutes a veritable reference for the protection of Alpine biodiversity and sustainable development in the Alps, defending the cause of the protected areas while working “together for the Alps”.
Marc Joanny, Provence -Alpes - Côte d’Azur Regional Council
Every year European Day of Parks takes place on and around 24th of May. It aims to bring people closer to nature and raise public awareness on the importance of the natural beauty preserved in Protected Areas and the importance of conservation and sustainable management of those places.
The European Day of Parks 2016 is under the frame " A Taste of Nature".
The European Day of Parks 2015 edition was under the frame "that Nature is our Business".
Further informations: http://www.europarc.org/nature/edop/