The Task Force Protected Areas will remain attached to the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention only until 31 December 2013. Alparc was asked to find the best solution to ensure the continuation of the team’s work after 2013. The working group “Future of Alparc” is endeavouring to endow the network with a new structure and legal status.

Over 16 years ago, in October 1995, the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC) was founded. Gradually, this gave rise to a network the likes of which had never existed before on a state level in the Alps. 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.

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: 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.

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. 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.

ALPARC offers… “A broadness of approach that is beneficial and a real exchange of information. In a word, I would say that Alparc is a trigger.” Guido Meeus, National Park Vanoise/F
"For me, what’s important is having contacts and exchanges with other managers of protected areas." Heinrich Haller, Director of the Swiss National Park

Local anchoring of actions

The triple crisis - ecologically, economically and socially - running through our society, causes concrete utopias, which overtake dreams and speeches to anchor in the action...

During an international workshop held in the Chartreuse Regional Park (France) from 13-15 October 2011, more than 30 experts from science and parks management across Europe discussed the role of mountain protected areas in regional development.

Under the umbrella of the ECONNECT project, during three years, 16 international partners worked towards extending and protecting the Alpine ecological network. The results of their work were presented in Berchtesgaden, Germany, from 26th to 28th September 2011.

Adamello Park and Valle Camonica will host the seventeenth edition of the Memorial dedicated to Danilo Re (a ranger from Cuneo, who deceased in 1995 while he was on a duty) from Thursday 12th to Sunday 15th January 2012.

The subject is of great topical interest: how can we assure a larger effectiveness of the alpine protected areas’ management measures? How can we monitor the effectiveness during the time?

An increasing number of protection authorities as ministries and local communities request to protected areas managers a veritable evaluation, in terms of effectiveness, of their management measures. Some large organisations, such as IUCN and the Council of Europe (European Diploma of Protected Areas ), dealt with this topic at the level of protected areas.