Representatives of the Alpine protected areas of 8 countries gathered together at the end of October for the General Assembly of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC). The thematic conference had as its title “Wilderness and biodiversity: can we leave the natural world to its own devices?” For the first time this event was hosted by the Swiss National Park .

ALPARC Alpine Network of Protected Areas was created in 1994 with the aim to intensify cooperation between the parks of the Alpine countries. ALPARC has in all several hundreds of protected areas as members. On the occasion of the General Assembly, which takes place every two years, around 100 representatives met together in Zernez to exchange views beyond the borders of their countries and protected areas and strengthen their collaboration.

Heinrich Haller, the director of the Swiss National Park, received his guests in the oldest national park in the Alps. Michael Vogel, president of the ALPARC Alpine Network of Protected Areas, underlined the importance of the ecological network. Whereas protected areas previously often functioned as islands, nowadays cooperation beyond borders has become an important part of development. The protection of nature is a mission of general interest, one which therefore must be approached together.

Thursday was set aside for the General Assembly. On this occasion the partners drew up the 2011-2012 schedule of action points and elected the International Steering Committee . This strategic commission of ALPARC checks that the network is able to carry out its missions as well as possible. Implementation is in the hands of the Task Force Protected Areas in Chambéry (F).

The Alps are the most visited mountain range in the world. We are managing the space of these mountains since several thousands years and we have pushed the wilderness towards the high altitudes or places difficult to access. It was the modern society, who gave a positive sense to the notion of wilderness. So, what happens, when large areas are let without any human intervention, only to their natural processes? This question was at the centre of the conference on Friday. The SNP constitutes an ideal example-site for this topic. Its creation almost 100 years ago was a visionary enterprise. The pioneers saw here the opportunity to save the last and rare relics of wild virgin nature and preserve them from the definitive disappearance. Moreover, the necessity to know this nature and its processes of development became of major importance, especially for a scientific description.