Dear colleagues and friends,

2009 has been a fruitful year, abounding in discussions, projects and ideas on how to strengthen international cooperation among the Alpine protected areas.

One key element has been our eagerness to begin building an ecological network , a continuum that will foster physical links between our parks and reserves. This has resulted in large-scale projects such as ECONNECT and the Ecological Continuum Project . These projects have galvanised many of our partners into taking very practical action to support ALPARC's work.

We hope that 2010 will be a year in which we can put in place the first actual building blocks of the continuum. We also want to see a keener awareness of the new challenges facing the Alpine protected areas, particularly climate change.
The ecological continuum is one response to this global threat, but is certainly not the only answer. Protected areas need to lead the way in raising public awareness, preserving biodiversity and working to reduce global warming. Tackling this issue is essential to preserving the "colours of life".

The International Year of Biodiversity 2010 will be an opportunity to develop cooperation between protected area managers still further and to act together to conserve the cultural and natural treasures found in the Alps for future generations.
On that note, the Task Force Protected Areas of the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention would like to thank all our partners for their hard work in 2009 and would like to wish you all a New Year full of hope and shared projects to preserve life in all its diversity.