Mreža zavarovanih območij v Alpah
Structuring a network comprising hundreds of institutions and protected-area administrators is a daunting task. This probably explains why ALPARC has achieved such great success as a kind of informal communal undertaking, albeit one that is also a de facto organization.
The new strategy entailing greater cooperation and integration with the Alpine Convention organisms, and at the same time greater independence as an association, aims to structure the existing organization from a legal standpoint. To this end, the growing number of projects and queries coming from the protected areas will be coordinated more efficiently. The sole valid legal status that such a communal undertaking can lay claim to is that of an association (in the legal sense of the term).
But as there is no type of association – for example under European law – that would be a better fit with ALPARC’s international structure, ALPARC’s International Steering Committee recommends that the founding meeting of the “ALPARC Association” should be held during the next Alpine week and at the 12th Alpine Conference in Switzerland . This would enable representatives of a maximum number of internationally active protected Alpine areas to gather with the aim of pooling their goals, energy and resources. A well structured network of active members (national representatives included) from throughout the Alpine region would serve the cause of productive cooperation and would open up a broader-based financing stream.
We call upon all protected areas to actively participate in the foundation meeting of the ALPARC association on 4 September 2012 in Val Poschavio, Switzerland. This founding meeting and general meeting of the network will also provide an opportunity for all concerned to discuss the underlying themes of ALPARC and to collaboratively develop key ALPARC projects going forward. It is vital that we strengthen this newly established network together. But to do this, the various protected areas simply must do their share – which means the following: lobbying local and regional political decision makers; disseminating information in the relevant regions, cantons and states concerning the collaborative efforts that the protected areas have been engaged in over the past 16 years, and the fruits these efforts have borne; doing PR concerning the importance of protected areas for the entire Alpine region and the role that each of the various protected areas play in the network; and proactively helping to find sources of financing for joint projects and events.
The financial burden of the joint activities in protected Alpine areas has been borne in its entirety so far by France and its alpine regions Rhone-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur, as well as by project-specific support from Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, Liechtenstein and private sponsors (MAVA Foundation, Heidehof Stiftung). Moreover, since 2003 the city of Chambéry has generously made the relevant infrastructure available free of charge to the Task Force Protected Areas at Maison des parcs et de la Montagne. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our French partners for their generous assistance.
But the time has come to establish a more robust platform that will foster international cooperation and development of the resources needed for it, in keeping with the slogan, Alpine Protected Areas: Together for the Alps!
At their 7th General Meeting on 21 October 2010, the members of ALPARC adopted their Zernez Resolution, which unanimously endorses the concept that the Task Force Protected Areas should remain attached to the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention. In so doing, they also urgently called upon the 11th Alpine Conference in 2011 to give this measure their vote of confidence, in keeping with the will of the 9th Alpine Conference; and appealed to all Alpine states to adopt measures aimed at seeking broader joint financing for the unique international and inter-state instrument that is ALPARC.
The Permanent Committee of the Alpine Convention was not greatly impressed by this resolution, and at their 44th meeting on 28-29 October in Innsbruck, Austria, decided to extend the Task Force Protected Areas agreement until the end of 2013 only. Hence the Permanent Committee recommended to the Alpine Network of Protected Areas and the International Steering Committee that, using the French report as a basis, they define, in time for the 12th Alpine Conference, the best option for ensuring that the Task Force will be able to continue its work after 2013.
This recommendation was endorsed by the 11th Alpine Conference in Brdo, Slovakia in early March. In this context, various Alpine states stated clearly that in their view ALPARC cannot remain attached to the Permanent Secretariat and that this is non-negotiable.
The French Report of June 2009 concerning the Task Force Protected Areas investigated various options, whereby only three turned out to be viable in terms of the legal status for the continued existence of the Task Force in the post-2013 period:
At its meeting of 17-18 February 2011 in Triesenberg, Liechtenstein, ALPARC’s International Steering Committee established a “Future of Alparc” working group, whose brief is to conduct an inquiry into the relevant legal status and financing related matters. The working group members are as follows: Michael Vogel, chairman (Germany); the two vice-chairmen Alain Brandeis (France) and Bruno Stephan Walder (Switzerland); and members Hermann Stotter (Austria), Christian Schwoehrer (France), Massimo Bocca (Italy), Elio Tompetrini (Italy) and Martin Šolar (Slovakia).
The working group has held three meetings to date – on 20 April and 12 July in Chambéry and on 25 October 2011 in Bern – each of which was attended by a different constellation of representatives of the Task Force. The first meeting was devoted to a detailed discussion of the current situation and the various options available, and the matters that are of most interest and concern to the Task Force members were examined closely.
During the second meeting, the views of the various Alpine states were considered and visions, objectives and recommendations for the Task Force’s priorities going forward were formulated; the contribution that ALPARC can potentially make to protected Alpine areas and for the Alpine Convention were defined; and an action plan and communication strategy were hammered out. It clearly emerged from this meeting that the time is ripe for ALPARC to make its presence felt and take action to ensure that the organization has a major say in future decisions.
This past July an extensive meeting, which was attended by the focal point of the French delegation, was held with Mission Operationelle Transnationale (MOT) at their headquarters in Paris. MOT has extensive experience in providing support for the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation. The conclusion drawn by MOT based on an analysis of the arguments for and against the aforementioned option 2 (European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation) couldn’t be more unequivocal: establishment of a European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation for the Alpine Network of Protected Areas would be an extremely lengthy process and is totally unrealistic for myriad reasons.
As a result, at the request of the Future of ALPARC working group, at its 20 September 2011 meeting in Berchtesgaden, the International Steering Committee adopted a resolution advocating that options 1 and 3 be pursued as a single package. This resolution calls for establishment of an ALPARC association with robust attachment of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas to the organs of the Alpine Convention. Thus the basic thrust of the Zernez Resolution can be implemented, although not in its absolute form involving attachment to the Permanent Secretariat.
At is third session, the Task Force promulgated a three-pronged strategy for ALPARC: In addition to the protected Alpine areas, the regions should also become members of ALPARC and a memorandum of understanding (MOU) should be adopted that forms part of the Alpine Convention and its organs. The Task Force defined the followingpriority areas:
with a particular focus on youth in Alpine regions.
An initial survey sent to ALPARC member states concerning their attitudes and concerns as regards the thematic priorities of ALPARC going forward, as well as the financing options available to the organization, yielded no results. Hence the ALPARC president and director will be holding discussions over the next few months with various Alpine states and regions, based on a recommendation concerning the thrust of ALPARC’s efforts going forward. The outcome of these consultations will be a major determinant of the thrust of the recommendation that the International Steering Committee and ALPARC will submit to the Permanent Committee at its 49th meeting in May 2012.
ALPARC is swinging into action once more, by conducting an active dialogue with ALPARC member states concerning financing and other relevant matters. ALPARC is also founding a new association and has recommended close cooperation with the organs of the Alpine Treaty.
Bruno Stephan Walder, vice chairman of the ALPARC International Steering Committee
Over 16 years ago, in October 1995, the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC) was founded in Gap in southern France. During the first assembly, the Alpine protected areas managers discussed various nature conservation and regional development issues and agreed to communicate and work with each other in the future. Gradually, this gave rise to a network the likes of which had never existed before on a state level in the Alps. Since then, almost all protected areas with their own staff have been involved in one or other ALPARC campaign. Language barriers were overcome, common interests discovered and differences led to learning opportunities and an exchange concerning protected area management methods in all Alpine states. Nothing like that had ever been experienced before. A network of participants with definitive objectives, continuous work groups and joint public relations work had been formed.
At first still affiliated to the University of Grenoble, the first projects were launched in 1995. Soon, the Network set up its own coordination team based in the Les Ecrins National Park that would be responsible for coordinating international activities in the protected areas. In 2006 this branch of the network, the Task Force Protected Areas (TFPA), became an affiliate of the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention as part of a voluntary contribution of France (state and regional) to the implementation of the Alpine Convention. Thus took place since the founding of the network an ongoing adjustment of status in order to fulfil the process and development requirements of the Alpine Convention institutions.
The ALPARC Network’s strong project-based orientation and the dynamism and flexibility expected from its partners have now led to a further development. The ALPARC Network requires a legal basis and structure in order to not only realise larger joint projects but in particular to also raise the international presence and significance of the Alpine protected areas. The Network’s main objective remains making an effective and practical contribution to the implementation of the Alpine Convention, in particular to the nature conservation protocol.
The 7th ALPARC general meeting in October 2010 in Zernez unanimously resolved that the Task Force Protected Areas should remain attached to the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention, and appealed to all Alpine states to actively seek broader joint financing for this unique inter-state instrument. To do this, resources, expertise and political support will be needed.
We sent the meeting’s resolution to all member states of the Alpine Convention and their committees.
The Alpine Convention organisms base all of their actions and decisions on the principle of unanimity, which means that even a majority does not suffice to push through a measure. Thus at the 44th meeting of the Permanent Committee of the Alpine Convention, a resolution was adopted calling for extension of the agreement whereby the Task Force Protected Areas is attached to the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention until 31 December 2013 only. In addition, it was recommended to the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC) and its International Steering Committee that, using the French report as a basis, they define, in time for the 12th Alpine Conference, the best solution for ensuring that the Task Force will be able to continue its work after 2013.
Though we were unable to push through our Zernez resolution, we did not stay inactive – a working group has been formed within our International Steering Committee which, by meeting and making contact with ministries and other governmental organisms, is endeavoring to endow the entire network with a new structure and legal status, and to integrate it even more robustly into the organisms of the Alpine Convention. (It has already emerged in this regard that the founding of a European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation, with its myriad states and protected areas, is an unrealistic approach.) Our top priority is to come up with a structure and status that will enable all of us to do even more, including lobbying, for the protected areas, with a view to moving forward with implementation of the Alpine Convention in cooperation with local citizens.
Michael Vogel, chairman of the ALPARC International Steering Committee
GLOCHAMOST is the follow-up initiative of UNESCO-MAB to the GLOCHAMORE Project, which has been set up in 2003 and which was founded by the European Commission and sponsored by UNESCO-MAB in collaboration with the Mountain Research Initiative and the University of Vienna (Austria).
Its aim is to implement selected key research areas of the GLOCHAMORE Research Strategy to develop adaptation strategies for mountain biosphere reserves in the context of global and climate change.
The following 5 key research areas provide a framework for research and knowledge sharing on the impacts of global/climate change on mountain biosphere reserves:
Two alpine biosphere reserves were selected to participate on this project:
- Biosphere Reserve Berchtesgadener Land , Germany
- Biosphere Reserve Val Mustair , Switzerland
Further information to the projects and to the project report 2011:
- GLOCHAMORE
- GLOCHAMOST
- report 2011: Berchtesgadener Land
- report 2011: Val Mustair
Every protected area has an emblem (logo) which it uses to identify the documents, infrastructure and services that it provides. Third parties are often authorised to use the logo as part of the park brand. This serves to promote and endorse services and products provided by regional operators and producers whose methods complement conservation activities (natural, cultural and social environments).
On 5 and 6 May 2011, staff from around 20 protected areas met in Santa Sofia (Foreste Casentinesi National Park, Italy) to discuss the benefits of park branding and how this fits in with European legislation and EU quality labels and to compare their experiences. The participants sought to reach a consensus on the role and use of brandings as a tool, with a view to developing a standard methodology for all protected areas, thereby creating transparency for consumers. During the workshop, it became apparent that the park brand has a vital role to play in raising public awareness of traditional products, which are often produced using methods that diverge considerably from modern business management criteria. The park brand also offers economic benefits for local operators and can reduce conflict with the park management body.
There are very different approaches to the subject in the Alps (see ALPARC Dossier 11 on environmental contracts and quality measurement tools ), which can sometimes be at odds with certain European guidelines (PDO, PDI, TSG).
The workshop documentation is available in Italian at: Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi - I marchi di qualità e le aree protette
For more information, contact Dr. Carlo Pedrazzoli (Tel. +39 05 43 97 13 75 ; e-mail: carlo.pedrazzoli@parcoforestecasentinesi.it )
ALPARC invites you to discover or rediscover its latest publications.
This publication, conceived within the framework of a project in partnership with the Swiss Parks Network and funded by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) , aims to improve the management of protected areas by helping managers to define the most appropriate and effective measures.
This catalogue of indicators is now available in the four Alpine languages and English. To consult without moderation!
Based on interviews with 21 alpine protected areas, the report “Renewable energies in Alpine protected areas” shows the conflicts between the protection and the use regarding the production of renewable energies as well as possible strategies. The study has been elaborated by the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences (SAS) with the support of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC) and has been funded by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN).
The report, available in a trilingual uncut version and a concise version in German, French or Italian, can be downloaded at: www.parkforschung.ch
We are pleased to provide you here a first list of events organized or co-organized by ALPARC and important dates to remember in 2012.
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12-15 January |
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1-2 March |
ALPARC International Steering Committee – Monaco (MC) |
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4 September |
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5-8 September |
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17-18 October |
Workshop Mountain Environmental Education – Hohe Tauern National Park, Mallnitz (A) |
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Other events and meetings could still be programmed. Don’t forget to check regularly the calendar of events at the website of Alparc. You can also stream your own events on this site, under " Events of the Alpine protected areas " and "Other events in the Alps ": for this, you have simply to provide us all useful information: info@alparc.org |
Since 2008, the French National Parks and the insurance company GMF are working together on a program to adapt the accessibility of the French national parks and taking into account the four different groups of disabled persons: physically, mental or visually handicapped and deaf-and-dump persons.
This ambitious program today includes 9 French National Parks:
Take a look at the video report!
The video is only available in French. Nevertheless, as demonstrated by the images, the video shows interesting opportunities for accessibility.
Source : The french national parks http://www.parcsnationaux.fr
20 partners , representing about 60 protected areas from 6 Alpine States, will present all together on the European Day of Parks, the 24th of May 2012, the multivision show of the Alpine protected areas network ALPARC .
With the duration of about 20 minutes, the multivision is addressed to a wide public and invites everybody, through music and pictures, to discover the diversity of the Alpine protected areas, the Alpine landscapes and cultures as well as its cultural heritage.
The 20 project partners will organise from the 24th of May on, a projection of the multivision show in their regions, especially during the following summer months. An Alpine-wide presentation of the multivison is planned for the Alpine Week , in September 2012.
Please notice that the multivison will be placed at the disposal of all protected areas of the ALPARC network for projection in each information centre and during events.
For further information or questions, please contact: marie.stoeckel@alparc.org
During the last Alpine Conference in March 2011 the Alpine Convention officially nominated 8 pilot regions for ecological connectivity in the Alps. One of these regions, the ecoregion Alpe Veglia ed Alpe Devero (Italy), has now been enlarged on both sides of the boarder in the area of the mythic Simplon.
Together the Swiss and Italian partners have started first steps to launch activities in favor of ecological connectivity following the common alpine approach developed by the Ecological Continuum Initiative and the Econnect project.
Besides the evaluation of the area carried out according to the criteria developed by the Platform Ecological Network of the Alpine Convention that could be finalized with success at the beginning of the year, an analysis is been realized with the online mapping tool JECAMI that will allow to define the potential of the area concerning ecological connectivity and to develop a list of concrete actions that should be started.
An important international event is planned for May 2012 that will bring together the most important actors of the area and that will also be the occasion to start the activities in synergy with all concerned sectors.
Photo description: Panoramic sight to the Alpe Veglia (village of Aione, 1752 m). In the front, an irrigation canal carved in a larch trunk.
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 .