The Massif des Bauges, natural regional park since 1995, covers between 250 and 2217m and an area of 856 km². The park is divided in the two departments Savoy (46 municipalities) and the Haute-Savoie (18 municipalities). The 64 municipalities in the Park hosts 70 000 inhabitants (in 2008) and are part of the department Rhône-Alpes. There are six towns, which are also members of the Parks joint union, and in total 400 000 people are living in the park.

A wide variety of natural habitats

Forest covers 58% of the parks territory and provides the resource wood which is very important for the local economy. Grasslands, which are represented in 30 % in the parks area, are split in hayfields and pastures.  

 A more detailed analysis of the habitats shows a wide variety, which includes dry grassland in the south-west, wetlands in the lower valleys and rock and scree habitats in the highlands. An exemplar of this diversity is maintained through the Parks’ NATURA 2000 network (7 areas cover 17 000 ha).

Thanks to the landscape diversity, there is also a rich flora diversity to find in the park. 1600 species were identified in the Parks territory, which means a 1/5 of the French flora. Some of them are strictly protected like the lady’s-slipper orchid (Cypripedium calceolus) and the Alpine Sea Holly (Eryngium alpinu). Next to the flora, the fauna is also very varied. The Park observed 117 species nesting in the territory, including many endangered species: golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) and the Black Grouse (Tetrao tetrix). A study of the National Office for Hunting and Wildlife (ONCFS) found out that the chamois is the most symbolic large mammals of the park. In the core area of the natural regional park, the reserve of national hunting and wildlife of the Bauges, the chamois, mountain sheep, grouse and many other animals are protected in a territory of 5200 ha forest and alpine meadows. Since 2003 the park is managing this part of the region in collaboration with the National Forest and National Office for Hunting and Wildlife.  

The missions of the Park

For a better way to accommodate the public and the same moment to preserve and reveal the heritage and landscapes while contributing to a sustainable development of this exceptional area, which is surrounded by six cities, the Park developed a charter. The charta includes the following main axes and the working program:

• sustainable urban planning – the park ensures the compatibility of urban planning documents with the plan of the park
• support of local economy activities with especially local products (agriculture and forest in particular)
• the knowledge, protection and management of the natural and cultural heritage

• support of all forms of sustainable tourism, which are developed in respect of the resources
• environmental education: the park is an active member of the Reema and the Alparc working group « environmental alpin education », which means concretly having exchanges on an international level. The park has also participated at the ViViAlp project , an educative tool (a 3dimensional flight over the Alpine protected areas on a big screen) for understanding, discovering and learning something about the Alps.
• An experimentation like the agri-environmental measure to accountability for results "prairie flowers " (it is the Regional Park Bauges, who, inspired by Swiss and German initiatives, has initiated this program in France, now extended to the entire country.)

GEOPARK, a label given by the UNESCO

In September 2011, the natural regional park Massif des Bauges got the label Geopark . The global network of Geoparks aims to promote the Earth heritage, especially the geological one, to the public, and to support the local sustainable development of territories in form of geotourism. Nowadays there are 50 Geoparks in Europe – 4 of them in France.
On international level the park develops partnerships with the Luberon Geopark (France) and the Geopark d’Arouca (Portugal) concerning a sustainable resource tourism , which is financed by the European LEADER program. Another convention was signed with the Geopark de Leye Fengshan (as well for tourism projects) and the Altai Mountains in Russia.  

Park's identity card

The Alpine Park Karwendel encompasses almost all of the Karwendel range. Extending over 727 km², the park is the largest protected area in the state of Tyrol and Austria's largest nature park. The area’s exceptional conservation value was recognised very early on. Tyrol’s oldest protected area first came into being when the central section of the Karwendel massif was made a conservation area back in 1928. The climate and topography have endowed the Karwendel range with an unusually high number of natural habitats such as ancient woodlands and wild rivers (Isar and Rißbach).

The massif is also home to a wide variety of species. Many typical Alpine flora and fauna are very common here, including golden eagles, sandpipers and German tamarisk (Mycaria germanica). The Karwendel range has been a destination for Alpine tourists for over 130 years and receives around one million visitors every year. 

 Traditional farming practices – including Alpine dairy farming, forest management and hunting –play a vital role and have been an integral part of the region's identity for centuries.

The role of the park management

The park management body is an essential factor in making formal conservation commitments issues a reality on the ground for regional stakeholder. To this end, the Alpine Park Karwendel Association (Verein Alpenpark Karwendel) was created in January 2008, a body which brings together the federal state of Tyrol, all the relevant local authorities, tourism federations, the Austrian Federal Forests service, chambers of agriculture and the Austrian Alpine Club. The park’s activities focus on: 

• Conservation
• Visitor facilities and management
• Environmental education and natural sciences

The top priority for conservation is maintaining natural rhythms and diversity in the Alps. Projects designed to do that include establishing reserves of ancient woodland, maintaining natural wild watercourses, returning the Karwendel marshes in the Achen valley to their natural state, and the Rißtal sandpiper conservation programme.  

 Interactions between visitors and the park are intended to develop awareness and a love of Nature, thereby ensuring its preservation. Visitors can learn about the Alpine Park Karwendel at the Hinterriß visitor centre and can also take part in a variety of organised activities. Four park rangers are always out and about in the park during the summer with a view to encouraging contact between visitors and locals.

A wide-ranging environmental education programme has been developed as part of the park's natural sciences education activities, with courses lasting anything from half a day to five days. The courses look at key issues in the Karwendel park: biodiversity, water, life in the high mountains, Alpine dairy farming, forest management and more. 

 After several premiere screenings of the multimedia show "For the Alps" , presented by the project partners throughout the European Day of Parks on 24 May 2012 in Berchtesgaden, Bled, Bohinj, Cevo, Chambéry, Domodossola, Embrun, Leuk, Matrei in Osttirol, Mojstrana, Mölln, Nice, Sondrio, St.Gallen/Steiermark, Trenta, Varzo, Vezza d'Oglio, Verbania… further demonstrations are planned by the partners and their protected areas during the current summer season, sporadic events, as well as regular demonstrations in the visitor centers in the parks.

ALPARC will present the multivision show in Poschiavo, Switzerland, from 5 to 8 September 2012, as part of the AlpWeek 2012 and its General Assembly . Following these events the multivision will be provided for free to all Alpine protected areas of the network.

We invite you to consult the website for the multivision show , to be informed about the latest presentation of the show in your area.

For further information, visit and look at :
- the last article: The multivision “For the Alps”: an original and unique audiovisual event
- the press release and list of partners can be found at the bottom of the attached documents
- and http://multivision.alparc.org .

Are you interested to present the multivision? Just send us a message to: multivision@alparc.org 

 In our newsletter « Nr 40 – special edition: The future of ALPARC », we have launched a call for testimonials to gather your experiences, messages of support, arguments, memories, anecdotes… showing what the Alpine Network of Protected Areas can provide for the staff of national parks and nature reserves in the Alps, especially with regard to their daily work. We would like to thank all the numerous persons which have sent their testimonials!

Take a look in the already received testimonials, shown in the guest book on Alparc’s website gathers the first testimonials.

We appeal to you: tell us of your experience with ALPARC, and what the network (its meetings, its instruments and its publications…) has given you.

There are two ways to do this:
- Call one of staff member of the Alparc team on +33 (0)4 79 26 55 00 to leave a spoken account (in all languages* except Slovene)
- Send your written account (in all languages*) by email to info(at)alparc.org : a few words can be enough!

MERCI !

*Alparc working languages = French, German, Italian, Slovene, English

Since 2011 ALPARC’s postcard collection increased thanks to the creation of additional cards of the following protected areas:
- the Alpine Park Karwendel , Austria
- the 9 nature reserves in Haute-Savoie, managed by ASTERS in France
- the Chartreuse Regional Nature Park , France

In addition, we have dedicated a postcard to the mulivision show “For the Alps” . This card exists in five languages and will be distributed by the organisers during the multivision projection. On the postcard’s backside you will find a web link that allows you to see the multivision show online (the multivision will not be on disposal for the public in DVD format. That’s why we offer the web link to all spectators and visitors of the parks information centres for giving them the possibility to watch the show at home).

 The postcard collection has reached a high popularity among the public and shows in a simple but aesthetic way the diversity of the Alpine protected areas – not only each one individually but as well the connection within the network.

We would like to remind you, that all models of the postcards are available and free to print for all alpine protected areas.

 The Green Mountain project continues! The 21 of June 2012 the SEE project Green Mountain European dissemination

conference will take place in Bucharest, Romania.

For further information, you can find attached the draft agenda of the event. 

In preparation for the IUCN World Conservation Congress , which will be held this year in September in South Korea, ALPARC’s president and Berchtesgaden National Park’s director Michael Vogel was invited in late April to a work meeting by the Korean Society of Environment and Ecology, the South Korean Ministry of Environment, the Korea National Park Service and the University of Seoul.

Michael Vogel, as a specialist of the German Alpine National Park and the Alpine Network of Protected Areas gave already two years ago a lecture in Korea about the Alpine Space project ECONNECT and presented this year in addition to his experience and results on the topics of national park management, ecological network in the Alpine region, the importance of protected areas in regional development as well the core results and resulting demands of ECONNECT. 

 Next to Korean national park managers, he established a contact to representatives of Japanese and Chinese reserves, which are highly interested and very keen to work with the Alpine Network of Protected Areas and the Carpathian Network of Protected Areas in the perspective of the creation of an Asian network of protected areas.

Michael Vogel, who was praised as an expert for eating with chopsticks, thinks: "It seems to be only a matter of time before ALPARC will get an Asian "brother" and the first joint meeting between ALPARC, the Carpathian Network and an Asian network." 

 ALPARC is pleased to present the multivision "for the Alps", an audiovisual production built around more than 400 photographs painstakingly selected from the 10,000 shots taken and shortlisted by park officers in nearly 60 protected areas. These areas are represented by 20 management bodies who are full partners in this unique creative piece.

A plea “for the Alps”

“For the Alps” pays visual tribute to the diversity found in the Alps: landscapes, cultures, habitats, lifestyles, and the potential for creating links between these areas that are slowly being fragmented.
Like a sensible and aesthetic testimony, “for the Alps” is the basic of the dialog between local actors, protected areas administrator and visitors. The multivision takes the viewer on an unusual journey through the Alps, travelling from the lofty mountain heights to inhabited areas, from East to West, North to South. It is like being picked up and carried along at the will of the four winds.

Grand premiere !

The production will be premiered on 24 May 2012, the European Day of Parks. Twenty protected areas in six Alpine countries will screen the multivision production created by Alex Gordon Rowbotham and set to original music by Sandro di Stefano.
You can find all the projection events and further information at this link.

A common message of the Alpine protected areas

The multivision « for the Alps » is a joint project of ALPARC and around 20 managers or networks of Alpine protected areas.
From the 24 of May on, this common communication tool will be distributed by all 20 partners in their territory over the whole summer season and it will be subsequently placed at the disposal of all Alpine protected areas.

For further information, visit and see:

• The web page: multivision-alparc.org
• The trailer
• The press release and further technical information
• The agenda of the projection events
• or contact us directly: multivision@alparc.org

30 of April 2012: bear M13 were run over by a train

The bear M13 survived the collision with the train of Rhätischen Bahn (RhB). By this incident, the GPS transmitter, the bear was equipped with, destroyed.

2nd of May: bear may be evidenced in Oberengadin

Rangers of the national park could find traces of a bear in the area S-chanf at the 2nd of May. One day later, the 3rd of May, traces were also found in Bever. So for the first time a bear could have been seen in Oberengadin. Until now it is not for sure which bear has been sighted. It cannot be excluded that it was the bear M13, which is still in Unterengadin since his collision with the train.  

Communiqué de presse complet en allemand, 7 mai 2012

Suisse National Park  

Wilderness areas are almost virgin spaces, without any human touch.

 To permit a transmission to the future generations of entirely intact natural spaces, we have to conserve them and, as far as possible, to restore areas of savage nature.

In the frame of the partnership “together for biodiversity”, the Austrian office of forests and WWF realized an enquiry of experts at this subject, containing ecological as well as social and politic aspects.  

In the year 1914, the first Alpine national park was founded: the Suisse National Park . At the entrance of the valley Engadin, in the canton of Grisons, for almost 10 years the national park was the only protected area in the Alps. Then the National Park Gran Paradiso in Italy and the Triglav National Park in Slovenia followed.
Nature protection became more and more important. Some nature reserves were developed from the year 1925 on (the first one in the Triglav National Park), but the main part of the Alpine protected areas came out after 1952, the year of the foundation of the International Commission for the protection of the Alps (CIPRA).

 Within the signing of the Alpine Convention in 1991, 6 Alpine countries, which have signed the convention, have already created 10 national parks, 46 regional nature parks, 235 nature protection areas and 139 special protected areas. Furthermore the UNESCO has recognised 5 protected areas as biosphere reserves.

Nowadays there are around 1000 protected areas (> 100 ha) united in the network ALPARC, in the perimeter of the Alpine Convention and its surroundings.

You can see the animation about the historical development of the Alpine protected areas at this link !

For further information, please look at our webpage (www.alparc.org) or contact us directly by mail: info@alparc.org . 

The Regional Nature Park Val Müstair (Switzerland)

 The Regional Nature Park Biosfera Val Müstair, UNESCO biosphere reserve since June 2010 (common with SNP) represents a sort natural of buffer zone for both of the old and important protected core zones of the National Parks Swiss and Stelvio/I. Since January 2011 it is recognized regional nature park of national importance.

This evolution is founded on a strong mobilization of its population, in which the acceptance of the nature Park was democratically approved in 2007 by 88%. One of the most important administrative steps was the unit of 6 municipalities since January 2009.

The various economic structures in Val Müstair are widespread; nevertheless tourism represents the highest potential of economic growth.

The intact landscape in Val Müstair offers a high quality of life. The river Rombach, one of the last free-flowing main valley rivers in Switzerland, and a high number of biologically-managed agricultural farms (80%) suggest a conscious and active cooperation of the valley inhabitants in the service of the natural resources. 

 The culture offer is also considerable: the internationally known UNESCO World Cultural Heritage St. Johann Monastery, an important number of museums and also the undamaged sites with the magnificent houses decorated with graffito are always a feast for the eyes for the visitor. The traditional language of Val Müstair is Romansch, to be precise “Jauer”. The language is officially spoken in everyday life and has remained alive up to the present.

AREVAIR IN VAL MÜSTAIR!
BIOSFERA…natüralmaing!

 BIOSFERA VAL MÜSTAIR

Center da Biosfera - Chasa Cumünala
7532 Tschierv
Tel. +41 (0)8 18 50 09 09
Fax +41 (0)8 18 50 13 13

E-Mail: info@biosfera.ch
Homepage: www.biosfera.ch

Further information:

Biosphere reserve Val Müstair

Swiss Federal Administration

Swiss Parks Network