Mountainous areas are known to be centers of biodiversity and biodiversity conservation. In Europe this is true for the Alps which extend to 8 countries. Together with the impacts of climate change, the ever rising quest for development by population and economy leads to the urgent need of taking action on a transnational level. Hence, articles in this publication ask for the specific challenges and possible solutions regarding the protection of this special habitat. 

ALPARC has contributed with two articles to this magazine. The article “Protected areas in the Alpine Arc and their gaps” illustrates the current situation of protected areas in the Alps, their geographical distribution and the type of protection they provide. Although an important part of the alpine territory is covered by some type of protected area, shortcomings with regard to certain habitats (forests, near-nature rivers, lower altitudinal levels) can be observed. A lack of standardized terminology and harmonized objectives is also an obstacle to cross-border comparison. These and further aspects are critically analyzed and discussed by recognized alpine experts.

The article “The contribution of ecological connectivity to a Green Economy in the Alps” presents potential socio-economic dimensions of activities aiming to improve ecological connectivity in alpine areas. Pilot Regions for Ecological Connectivity of the Alpine Convention implement measures to conserve and restore ecological connectivity at a local level. These activities not only have positive ecological effects but also contribute to a certain extent to the economic development of the regions. By highlighting functional chains, a selection of good practice examples illustrates the contribution of these actions to a Green Economy in the Alpine area and showcases the potential for planning and implementing ecological connectivity measures for the development of new and innovative regional offers.

In June 2017 a core group of hikers departed from Vienna and have been travelling through several destinations all over the Alps on a journey of 120 days that will lead them to Nice at the end of September.

Whatsalp is the continuation of TransALPedes, a journalistic-political project launched in 1992. Back then, a core group of eight specialists and media workers, accompanied by a group of interested parties, crossed the Alpine region in four months. Thanks to more than 100 encounters TransALPedes built up an international network of 800 people with committed individuals, groups and authorities engaged in the protection and long-term development of the Alpine region.

In 2017, all along the hike the core group has already had the opportunity to set up numerous site meetings with interested individuals, groups and institutions, shedding light on and discussing the changes in the landscapes and societies across the Alps that have taken place over time. The group has also been in touch and had some exchanges with the youngsters of the “Whatsalp Youth” project led by CIPRA. As the Whatsalp hike has largely followed the route that the TransALPedes Group walked 25 years ago, all the meetings have been a great opportunity to make relevant comparisons and reflect over the traces left by humans and natural events in the past as well as to draw attention to future perspectives.

Whatsalp hike has been reported through short texts, films and photos on a blog where the group has been communicating on a daily basis about what they have seen, heard and experienced.
For further information about the roadmap of previous and future meetings, the route of the hike or to register for the last stages and join the core group, please visit the website of the project.

Give Youth a Voice in the Alps! GaYA Encourages Youth Participation in Local - Urban and Rural - Politics

How can young people become more involved in local political processes? How can local politicians, their municipalities and the young themselves benefit from increased inclusion? These questions are central to the EU Interreg Alpine Space GaYA project (Governance and Youth in the Alps), and especially to its pilot stage that started at the beginning of September. As project partner and coordinator of the pilot phase in 2018, ALPARC also works closely with three Nature park regions in France.

The first stage of the project ended with the “Youth Participation in Political Decisions in Alpine Regions” workshop on 29 June in Bozen/Bolzano. The aim of this first stage was to analyse democratic and participatory processes across the Alps with particular focus on youth, and to highlight good practices. At the workshop, the partners presented these results to numerous representatives from municipalities and the political sphere from all over the Alpine space (report available, see below). The GaYA project teaser video-clip, which was designed by the ALPARC coordination unit with an external video maker, encourages youth participation in local politics by highlighting some of the existing examples (see below).

Over the next months, the pilot stage will start in the different GaYA pilot areas. Based on local needs and challenges, the aim is to test innovative approaches to mobilise and include youth in political processes in various fields: from youth-related topics such as education and culture to wider regional challenges such as biodiversity and climate change. Accompanied by the GaYA partnership and supported by external experts in the fields of citizen participation and democratic innovation, each pilot area will develop a participatory action plan and should implement at least one specific action in 2018. The experiences and lessons from this experimental approach will help the consortium to develop a toolkit and recommendations for policy-making in the field of youth participation in local politics.

GaYA runs from November 2016 to February 2019 and is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme (Total budget: 1,092,748 € - 928,836€ ERDF grant). ALPARC is work package leader in the pilot stage (End 2017-2018).

For further information
Have a look at the GaYA comparative report (all Alpine languages): EN DE FR IT SI
Watch the GaYA teaser video-clip available in (all Alpine languages): EN DE FR IT SI
To keep yourself updated, please visit: www.alpine-space.eu/projects/gaya

In the frame of the WeWild project, ALPARC aims at developing a joint Alps-wide communication strategy and several joint communication tools that will help reduce the impact of snow sports on wildlife in the Alps. ALPARC wants to gather protected areas as well as other key players and interested partners in the Alps behind this joint initiative.
Over the summer months, the ALPARC operational unit has intensively worked with external communication experts and the project’s steering committee on the content of the communication strategy and on the concepts of the communication tools: logo, video-clip and website. The video clip will be made by a Chamonix-based studio specialized in skiing and outdoor images and we hope that by underlining these elements, it will speak to a maximum number of recreationists. It will be released in December, when the logo and the website will also be launched. The website will deliver essential information and awareness raising messages for outdoor participants and besides that, will provide a space that presents the initiative, its partnerships and how to join it.
The two upcoming months will give the opportunity to exchange on these developments with the ALPARC network. A first meeting for French parks and reserves will take place in Bourg-d’Oisans on September 21st 2017: wildlife disturbance and environmental impacts of outdoor activities are burning issues in France and many protected areas are looking for ways to raise awareness and change the behaviours of their visitors, also in a joint way. Then on October 19th and 20th, a second international WeWild workshop in Aree protette dell’Ossola in northern Italy will take place (after the first one in Vorarlberg in March 2017). The main objectives of this second workshop will be to gather feedback on the communication strategy and its tools, to discuss their joint circulation in winter 2017/2018 and how to develop further the WeWild partnership. Registration is already open:

For the workshop in France, register here.
For the international workshop in Ossola, register here.
ALPARC is looking forward to seeing you at one of these upcoming events.

A big thank you to Maša Klemenčič who has supported ALPARC and in particular this project as a project assistant over the last six months and who left the ALPARC operational unit in Chambéry in the beginning of September. ALPARC wishes her all the best for the future.
For more details on the project, please contact dominik.cremer-schulte@alparc.org.

The WeWild project is financed by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN, Germany) with funds of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB, Germany).

Further reading
Together with researchers from the Savoy-Mont Blanc University and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, the ALPARC team recently published an article on this topic in the journal eco.mont, resuming the results of the 2016 international workshop that was held in France. The article is accessible online at this link.

Whenever legendary figures are scrambling out of book pages, folk songs are springing to life, you are savouring your grandmother’s favourite recipes, travel reports are enticing you to go on a walking tour, forests get to dance, rocks are trembling in the face of a mystery story, classical or contemporary literature get communicated -  then, the mountains are reading! On International Mountain Day - 11 December - the cultural diversity of the Alps is celebrated!

The Reading Mountains Festival is an opportunity for partners around the Alps to organize events to celebrate Alpine literature, languages and cultures under a joint umbrella. On International Mountain Day, (11 December) and the days leading to it partners (stakeholders, schools, libraries, interested individuals, restaurants and other interested organisations) are invited to organize their/your own event highlighting Alpine literature. There are different ways to do so: by organizing a reading by a local author, having a presentation of a book set in the region or in any other innovative way. It is all about being part of a project promoting the values of the Alpine Convention: protection of the Alps, its sustainable development and its diversity. Hence, every event emphasizes the economic, environmental, social and cultural dimensions of life in the Alps. 

The Reading Mountains Festival goes beyond each of the events itself – it is also a way to connect people despite their being physically apart. In the last edition book lovers and authors, mountaineers and artists throughout the Alps (and beyond) discussed similar issues and assessed the meaning, impact and purpose of Alpine literature. Some of these discussions are captured in the film “People, Books and Mountains - The Quest for Alpine literature” that was produced as a follow up.

Organisations interested in the 2017 edition are invited to register here and receive promotional materials (posters, bookmarks andstickers) from the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention.

ALPBIONET2030 proposes a first overview of mediation and mitigation strategies for mountain areas

As a first result of the ALPBIONET2030 project, a report on the state of the art of current mitigation and mediation strategies in mountain areas is available. The study, led by Eurac Research, presents a collection of human-nature conflict case studies and mitigation strategies used in the Alps and in other mountain areas with indications on the transferability of results.

Human-wildlife interactions have always been a significant feature of mountain areas. In the last decades, conservation policies, demographic tendencies, ecological and topographic factors have together resulted in an intensification of this phenomenon in the Alps. These interactions of various kinds can have several negative impacts, both on human activities and on biodiversity conservation. Therefore, there is an absolute need to manage them efficiently from a social and ecological point of view in order to enhance cohabitation in a necessarily shared space.

Wildlife management has traditionally focused on reducing damages caused by animals on human activities, and vice versa. However, there is increasing acknowledgment among specialists that the social dimension of human-wildlife conflicts should constantly be taken into account to manage conflicts.

This work presents a sample of existing mitigation and conflict resolution approaches in mountain areas.  It intends to emphasize the necessity to combine multi- and inter-disciplinary methods in order to reach a qualitative and stable level of human-nature coexistence that would enter into the scheme of a well-established ecological connectivity management throughout Alpine areas.

Public response to wildlife presence is namely considered as a prominent factor in the intensity of a conflict and an important area of work that is to be addressed through mediation approaches.

The present report also suggests that this social and recently considered component of the conflict could be the cornerstone for making the so-called conflict an opportunity to stimulate regional development in the Alps. Turning intense human reactions to wildlife presence into positive actions such as ecotourism development based on wildlife presence would be an example of this. For this reason, it would be necessary to first revise our ambition of “conflict resolution” and focus efforts on optimizing the management of human-wildlife interaction. 


ALPBIONET2030 runs from November 2016 to December 2019 and is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme (Total budget: 2,637,285 € - 2,241,693 € ERDF grant). ALPARC is lead partner in this project.

The YOUrALPS summer school carried the flag of empowering teachers and educators in order to start the test phase of pilot actions in the winter semester 2017/18. New pedagogical approaches, practical excursions and participatory activities provided inspiration and concrete instruments with regard to a first structure of an innovative school model – the Alpine School.

From August 28th to August 31st representatives from all project pilot sites met in Naklo, Slovenia to participate in the elaboration of a framework for the Alpine School model. In this way 45 participants from France, Italy, Slovenia, Austria and Germany spent four productive days together, actively engaging in discussions and fruitful exchanges concerning expectations, goals and respective approaches. In the course of the four days, the pilot sites were trained on the pedagogical approach of nature interpretation with the aim of giving young people the possibility to explore by themselves and foster individual learning. Moreover, the crucial importance of protected areas in backing mountain-oriented education was underlined, placing emphasis on several activities already in place, promoting the connection of the young generation to their living environment.

With the beginning of the winter semester 2017/18, pilot sites will start their actions for the first test phase until January 2018. Consequently, all activities will be evaluated according to specific Alpine School criteria and recommendations will be given in order to improve them for the second test phase during the summer semester 2018. The Alpine School model will be further developed and complemented by guidelines, toolkit and a certification charter such that at the end of 2019 it will ready for implementation.

The project YOUrALPS
The project YOUrALPS brings together 12 partners and 25 observers from 5 different Alpine regions and sectors. Alparc - Alpine Network for Protected Areas is lead partner and responsible for the work packages management and communication.

YOUrALPS is cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) via the Interreg Alpine Space Programme. Hence, the requirements of the Alpine Space Programme are strictly applied.

Have a look at the status quo analysis report on Mountain oriented Education here

For more information on the project see: www.alpine-space.eu/projects/youralps/en/home

International Forum Immenstadt (D), 28 September 2017, 9.30am – 4pm (7pm)

The conservation, restoration and creation of ecological connectivity are key elements in European and international nature protection policies. Stakeholders from numerous sectors are involved, adapting their daily activities or setting up particular measures to improve ecological connectivity. These activities support the conservation of biodiversity, but they also generate benefits in a regional socio-economic context and therefore contribute to greening the economy.
The GreenConnect project has studied the contributions of ecological connectivity measures to a green economy in the Alpine context and highlighted some of the potential socio-economic impacts. Based on the results of this study, that will be presented during the event, participants from research, Alpine Pilot Regions, administrations and representatives from different economic sectors are invited to discuss the implications, to suggest related project ideas and to participate in the drafting of a follow-up process.

The International Forum takes place in the Alpseehaus in Immenstadt (D) on 28 September 2017.
This event is organized in coordination with the “Business models for the sustainable use of natural resources in the Alpine region” Workshop organized as part of a process to develop an action plan for a Green Alpine Economy, taking place the day before (27th September 2017) in Immenstadt.

A short video to illustrate the importance of cooperation between the Alps and the Carpathians via the flat Danube river plains

Curious to know what happened to our friends the ibex, the bearded vulture and the fish? Want to learn more about the challenge of the red deer in the flat Danube river plains? A fourth short and humorous video clip about the importance of ecological connectivity in a specific geographical context is now being added to the existing series. 

The short video clip that was developed in the frame of the cooperation between the networks of protected areas in the Alps (ALPARC) and the Carpathians (CNPA) and the Danube Protected Areas Network (Danube Parks) illustrates how landscape fragmentation may be a problem for wildlife in the intersection between these three European regions. Will we be able to see another happy ending? Take 2 minutes off and follow our red deer in their quest for love. The video is available on the ALPARC YouTube channel.

The Berchtesgaden National Park will be hosting the 23rd Danilo Re Memorial in 2018!

From January 25th to 28th 2018, the event will take place in the “Haus der Berge”, Berchtesgaden, Germany.

What exactly is the Danilo Re Memorial? 

It is an event which gathers the staff of the Alpine, and since 2017, the Carpathian protected areas.  There are 3 main parts: a thematic seminar, a sports competition (mountaineering ski, slalom, Nordic skiing and shooting) and the ALPARC General Assembly.

On this occasion, teams essentially composed of rangers meet and exchange on scientific monitoring, awareness-raising and knowledge dissemination in a context of international friendship and camaraderie.

Who can participate? 

The teams from the parks essentially composed of rangers, and the Alpine Convention; that is to say 200 people on average, coming from Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Germany, Italy and France. 

The Berchtesgaden National park

Please find below a few words from the park: 

“In 2018 Berchtesgaden National Park celebrates its 40th anniversary. Consequently, the protected area around the world-famous destinations Watzmann and Königssee is the second oldest national park in Germany and at the same time the only German national park in the Alps. 

The international “Memorial Danilo Re” ranger meeting is the solemn start in a year full of events, activities and programs around the anniversary of the founding of the national park. Berchtesgarden is really looking forward to hosting “Danilo Re” for the second time, after 2006. Welcome back and see you soon in the Berchtesgaden National Park!"

For any additional information, please consult the website.

Registration are now open, please click here !

The International Conference on the Future of Mountain Agriculture in the Alps will take place on 13th-14th September 2017 in St. Johann im Pongau, Salzburg.

The conference will be an occasion to discuss about the perspectives of mountain agriculture within the framework defined by the future developments of CAP 2020. The participants will have the chance to discuss the future challenges and opportunities for farms and forestry enterprises in the Alps.

Further details of the agenda and practical information are available here.

The registration is open until 22nd August 2017 through the form here.

German, French, Italian and Slovenian are the conference languages. Simultaneous translation will be provided.

For further information please contact landwirtschaftimalpenraum[@]zukunftsraumland.at

The conference is organized by BMLFUW, the Austrian Chamber of Agriculture and the Austrian Rural Network under the Austrian Presidency of the Alpine Convention.

The annual EUROPARC Conference will take place in Portuguese Magic Mountains in the beginning of September 2017. It is the biggest event gathering protected area experts from across Europe.

The theme of this year’s conference is “New voices, new visions, new values – for people and nature in Europe”: it will focus on new actors in protected areas management.

Registration form is already open and available from the conference website found here.