Mreža zavarovanih območij v Alpah
“Biodiversity protection on smaller watercourses in the German-speaking Alpine region”
“Biodiversitätsschutz an kleineren Fließgewässern im deutschsprachigen Alpenraum”
In late 2022, the Swiss Parliament adopetd a new law called «Solar express», to produce more solar electricity in winter as soon as possible. As the flat parts of the country are often under cloud cover in winter, the new solar parks should be constructed in the Alps. To speed up the development, the law gives solar parks the priority against most nature protection instruments – thus also Nature Parks.
As no spatial planning process defined the best sites for solar parks and the government promised subsidies of up to 60%, energy companies got into contact with communities directly– including some within Nature Parks. Once the project perimeter was defined, the local population voted on the solar parks.
In the Nature Park Binntal, the population of one community voted in favour of a solar park. In the Nature Park Pfyn-Finges, three votes in three different communities took place. One community approved their solar project whereas the two other communities rejected their projects. The same outcome (rejection) could be observed in the Nature Park Ela.
It is suprising that solar park projects can be planned within Nature Parks in Switzerland. But the Nature Parks focus the discussions around the landscape values, because the communities risk loosing their label.
© G. Plassmann, ALPARC
Management plan for regional development in the Mürzer Oberland Nature Park launched in Neuberg an der Mürz
A few weeks ago the Mürzer Oberland Nature Park was able to start implementing the management plan for the Mürzer Oberland as commissioned by the Province of Styria. With the involvement of all relevant stakeholders from business, politics, tourism and regional development, the Mürzer Oberland Nature Park and, in this context, certain economic interests of the market town of Neuberg an der Mürz will be evaluated over the next 1 ½ years.
The Nature Park was pleased with the active participation of the Upper Styria East Regional Management on the one hand and the Mariazellerland Mürztal Leader Region on the other in the last workshop.
From these workshops, fields of action for the region's future activities and projects were developed. I will be happy to make the contents of the workshops and the associated considerations available on request, especially with regard to supporting the regional economy.
Mürzer Oberland Nature Park - Inventory of one of Austria's largest private natural history collections completed
It is considered one of the largest and most diverse private natural history collections in Austria - the collection of Prof. Herbert Schliefsteiner, which has been housed in the Mürzer Oberland Nature Park for over 30 years. In 2021, the market town of Neuberg an der Mürz took over the exhibits as part of a donation from Helmut Schliefsteiner, the son of the collection's founder. At the same time, the market town concluded an operating agreement with the Mürzer Oberland Nature Park Association for the exhibition and maintenance of the exhibits.
The Mürzer Oberland Nature Park then began, with the financial support of the Cultural Department of the Province of Styria, to create a professional depot and to digitally inventory the exhibits. Two employees were hired for these activities and this project was completed at the end of December 2023. In addition, as part of the "Who are you Styria" campaign, an exhibit from the collection, the "defensive female golden eagle", was awarded a prize as a particularly valuable exhibit with a very special background story!
More than 1,000 animal specimens from all over the world, including unique showpieces such as a great bustard, were photographed and scientifically recorded and entered into an online inventory. In coordination with the Museumsforum Steiermark, a branch of the Universalmuseum Joanneum, the exhibits are now available not only for the future new Neuberg an der Mürz Nature Museum but also for other exhibitions.
The collection itself will become the heart of the new nature museum funded by the state's nature conservation department. With this project, the market town of Neuberg an der Mürz, together with the Mürzer Oberland Nature Park, has been able to secure the preservation of one of the most important natural history collections in our region of Hochsteiermark.
Since 2021, the Vercors Regional Nature Park has been carrying out and leading a Municipal Biodiversity Atlas (ABC) approach in conjunction with the LPO and Flavia APE associations. From 2021 to 2023, the ABC involved 38 volunteer municipalities. In 2024, a second ABC Vercors will be created for 3 years and will take over from the previous one. It concerns 26 new municipalities that will therefore benefit from support from the Vercors Regional Nature Park.
The Atlas of Communal Biodiversity makes it possible to carry out a local scientific inventory and a mapping of animal and plant biodiversity so that each of these municipalities takes it into account in its developments and projects.
The themes of the first ABC Vercors are continued: pollinators, remarkable trees and hedges, wetlands and bats, to which flora is added as a new theme studied.
Residents are invited to contribute to the observations, thus deepening their knowledge of natural heritage with a view to better preserving it. They can set up "local ABC groups" and become stakeholders in the proposals for ABC activities in their municipality.
Moreover, everyone at their own level can participate by discovering the trees, ponds, pollinators, bats and flora near their home - in their garden, on their balcony, on public paths... and by adding its observation data to the online participatory tool "Vercors Biodiversity Observatory".
In addition to these free participations, discovery outings are organised by the park and its partners throughout the process. Local groups or naturalists can also suggest them.
Each inhabitant can get involved in the local ABC group of his municipality, and thus participate in the development of the choice of events and projects for biodiversity in the municipality. To register on the ABC group of a municipality, simply contact its town hall.
Find here more information.
Click here to participate in the observatory.
Click here to access the atlas.
From September 2023, a cross-border project between Italy and Slovenia - E-NAT2CARE - has been launched with the main objective of conserving and restoring a high level of biodiversity and ecosystem richness, from the Alps to the karst landscape. The project will last 24 months. The involved partners are the Slovenian National Institute of Biology, the Škocjanske Jame Park, the University of Primorska on the Slovenian side and the Prealpi Giulie Nature Park and the University of Udine on the Italian side.
The E-NAT2CARE project builds on the excellent results of the NAT2CARE project from the previous Interreg Italia-Slovenia 2014-2020 programming period, which showed that cross-border areas need coordinated management to halt the decline in biodiversity and the deterioration of habitats and species. Forests, which consist of old trees with stunted trunks and contain large amounts of dead wood, are among the most diverse ecosystems. They harbour many animal and plant species, have an important economic value, an educational and aesthetic function and help to mitigate climate change. These forests are severely threatened by deforestation, climate change and unpredictable and violent natural events such as fires and floods, including in the Alps and karst. This also threatens many species that need such forests to survive. The general objective of the project is to support the protection and development of biodiversity in PA through the implementation of 2 pilot actions at cross-border level to monitor species defined as "bio-indicators": Rosalia Alpina and Strix Uralensis in the protected areas Biosphere Reserve of the Julian Alps and the Slovenian Karst (pilot area the Park Škocjanske jame), Trieste and Gorizia. On the other hand, there is a growing need for sustainable management of water resources. The project will thus also focus on developing a methodology for mapping ecosystem services and involving the population and local businesses in activities for active protection and collective responsibility towards this resource, which also has an economic value.
The common challenge of PA is to protect and actively conserve of the high level and widespread biodiversity that extends from the Alps to the sea through the Karst region. The E-NAT2CARE project pursues the objectives of implementation, transfer, and communication in order to use the results of the NAT2CARE project.
The idea of a cooperation platform emerged at an ALPARC CENTR'ALPS workshop as part of the considerations for a joint measure by protected areas. The basic idea: protected areas support each other with expertise and (wo)manpower.
This type of cooperation was initially to be trialled on a small scale using a pilot project so that experience could then be used as a basis for expansion. The Tyrolean Lech Nature Park and the Swiss National Park were involved in the pilot project. Initially, the need for support, support options, important topics for the exchange and the rough format were defined with them. Then two exchange visits of two respectively three days took place, where staff members of both parcs discussed the selected key topics (visitor guidance, process dynamics, monitoring) in the field.
An important realisation was that process protection and dynamics are not only possible in core zones of large national parks or wilderness areas, but also in nature parks - even if not in all aspects, but often only on a small scale or temporarily. Due to the differences between the two protected areas (in terms of protection category, age, size, staffing), the exchange was perceived as very enriching by the participants. The fact that this format enables a very intensive exchange was also rated very positively.
© J. Eich, Naturpark Tiroler Lech
The prestigious "Management of Conservation Areas (MCA)" master degree program starts again in September 2024 at Carinthia University of Applied Science.
Conservation areas, such as national parks, heritage sites and biosphere reserves, represent Earth's most beautiful and valuable landscapes. In this international master degree program, students learn to effectively plan and manage such areas, harmonizing biodiversity protection with local interests.
Tailored to the needs of international professionals, the program blends intensive on-site courses, including visits to various conservation areas, with flexible online elements. Further information about the program and registration can be found on the webpage www.cuas.at/mca .
© FH Kärnten
For many years now, the annual Danilo Re Meet has provided a major opportunity for all those working in Alpine Protected Areas to get acquainted with one another, in particular those in the field, carrying out surveillance, facilitation and fact-finding missions. The event comprises a sports competition (known as “The Danilo Re Trophy”), a theme-based seminar and a range of other activities for all participants to enjoy together. The 28th edition will take place from January 18th to January 21th 2023, within the Kalkalpen National Park in Austria.
ALPARC CENTR’ALPS: Online Workshop “Biodiversity protection in and around small watercourses - measures and options for action in protected area management”
Organised by ALPARC CENTR'ALPS, this workshop is part of the "Biodiversity Protection in Times of Climate Change" project, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection.
The importance of addressing the dynamics and continuity of small rivers in connection with neobiota and process dynamics has been recognized by protected areas, presenting both significance and challenges in their line of work. ALPARC CENTR'ALPS has undertaken a focused effort to identify pertinent challenges, gather examples of effective measures through a brief survey, leverage external expertise, and navigate the intricate web of actors and responsibilities, all while considering the often constrained capacity for action within protected areas.
Some protected areas have successfully implemented measures in response to these challenges. This workshop discuss the outcomes of this work aiming to equip participants with tools and inspiration for collaborative activities and measures within protected areas.
The workshop will be conducted in German, targeting stakeholders in the central German-speaking Alpine region who are currently active or interested in engaging in these specific areas of work.
The event will be held online via Zoom on the 12th of December, 2023, at 15:00 (CEST, Paris)
Please register by the 8th of December 2023 by e-mailing centralps@alparc.org to attend.
This video clip available in all the Alpine languages (DE, FR, IT, SL) and in English, conveys the essential messages of the project Alpine Parks 2030.
See our dedicated site to get further information about the project's outputs.
The AlpPlan network and the Interreg Alpine Space project PlanToConnect are jointly organising the upcoming workshop "Ecological connectivity and spatial planning: From concepts to implementation" on 27-28 November 2023 in Ljubljana (SI).
The workshop is combined with the annual general assembly of the AlpPlan network. It is the first public event of the new format “AlpPlan/PlanToConnect Expert Platform on Green Infrastructure, Ecological Connectivity and Spatial Planning”.
Click here for more information.