Le Réseau Alpin des Espaces Protégés
All over the Alps, people are disturbed by the lack of young people in the mountains, notably in summer. Are the mountains boring? Here, there and everywhere people are beginning to realise that our children and our young people are short of … nature. Has contact with nature become a waste of time?
Omnipresent screens, hectic lifestyles, no more room to simply… go out. Yes, out, in the open air, in woods or beside a stream. Sit in a meadow, listen, smell, observe. And then walk, climb, up the slope and maybe reach the summit?
So, along with many other activities and projects, we have together imagined an original way to take young people of the Alps to experience the mountains, spend a night up there, and rediscover the power of being a group and the values of citizenship and solidarity. A collective operation rich in symbolism: Youth at the Top !
For, from France to Slovenia, the Alpine protected areas are very keen to recreate or strengthen the link between mountain nature and young people from here and elsewhere. Because living in the Alps does not necessarily mean knowing the region and travelling all over it. Because mountaineering means education. Because the young people of our areas are also our discussion partners and tomorrow’s players, and also because it is quite simply vital for every human being to have regular contact with nature.
It is a project led by ALPARC, in partnership with Educ’Alpes for the French Alps, which will mobilise groups of young people at a common annual date, in an active, civic process, with a symbolic and imaginative approach.
Our proposal to you is to organise together, on the same day every year, the same night, meetings in emblematic places (refuges, bivouacs, passes, summits) in the mountains in all the Alpine countries. The objective: to take groups of young people up there to share a unique experience, and, more widely speaking, to reach in this way a number of teaching objectives linked to mountain education. But please note, this is not an “educational” day in the classic meaning of the word, but one having the aim to “let someone experience”, a collective adventure in the mountains… In addition, there will be a citizen action (linked to the park or refuge, for example ) and a shared artistic activity (photographic work, plays of light…). This “simultaneous” artistic work by the groups taking part will then fuel a collective work of restitution on an Alpine scale.
The international working group developing the project has chosen the 3rd Thursday in July as common date, a compromise between the highly varying local situations from one end of the Alpine arc to the other. For the 2015 ‘test’ edition, it will be Thursday 16th July. The objective is to then renew the operation every year on a larger scale. (Fund seeking is ongoing).
We invite you to join this major collective project, which is both simple and ambitious, aimed at young people. The operation is seen as flexible and adaptable: each protected area taking part in it can adapt the size and the local event to its own means and the local context. The 2015 edition will be a first test operation which will be the object of an assessment in order to perpetuate it in the years to come.
If you want to take part in this adventure, fill in the attached entry form, which does not commit you to anything at this stage, but which will allow us to identify potential events throughout the Alps and to include you in the working group for the preparatory phase. The entry form should be sent to ALPARC before 15th March 2015. More details in the project file attached.
ALPARC & EDUC’ALPES
The “Mountain Environment Education” working group
Contact : email
The third ALPARC General Assembly was held on 23rd January 2015 in St. Jakob in Defereggental, in the Hohe Tauern National Park (Austria). More than 50% of the Network’s members were present. The General Assembly validated the official reports of the president, treasurer and director for 2014 and the 2014-2015 ALPARC programme.
Moreover, the 2014 activities report can be downloaded at this link.
ALPARC’s strategic orientations are as follows:
During the General Assembly the communications activities planned to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the ALPARC network were also announced.
During the General Assembly, the General Secretary of the Alpine Convention, Markus Reiterer, highlighted the close relationship between ALPARC and the Alpine Convention. The cooperation between these two structures is set out in the “Cooperation Memorandum”.
ALPARC and the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention work together at a communications level to promote the Convention or within some working groups or platforms dealing with themes that also concern the protected areas.
A new working programme for 2016-2017 will soon be prepared. ALPARC invites all the members of the network to submit their propositions to the members of the ALPARC Bureau as a contribution to a first version of the text.
Download the final publications.
From September 2013 to November 2014, ALPARC was the lead partner of the European greenAlps project, with the objective of examining the effectiveness of nature protection measures, from the European level to the level of individual communities, in order to encourage a change of governance so that more consideration will be given to nature in the policies of the Alpine countries.
A study of the European policy for the preservation of biological diversity together with the analysis of the principal results of a whole series of European projects has made possible the formulation of political recommendations, as well as recommendations aimed at those in charge of the Espace Alpin programme in order
to improve the impact of future projects in favour of biodiversity.
Final publications greenAlps project:
This section includes all the PowerPoint (pdf format) presentations and video shown during the theme based seminar, "Reintroduction and (natural) returns of species, local population and conflicts: the ranger’s role?" that took place during the "20th Memorial Danilo Re", 23rd January 2015, Sankt Jakob im Defereggental, Hohe Tauern National Park.
Please note the PPT presentation from Berchtesgaden National Park is not available.
The special brochure “Compete to protect the Alps: 20 editions of Memorial Danilo Re”, (printed version, English only) has been published by ALPARC and the Danilo Re Steering Committee under the coordination of Martin Solar (ALPARC general Secretar).
The brochure, which is a collection of photographs and testimonies, aims to revive the memories and superlatives of all former events of the “Memorial”.
If you are interest in the publication and you would like to receive one or more copy please contact the ALPARC team at: info@alparc.org
Source: Alpine protected areas database, ALPARC
ALPARC lays out the most up to date map from its Alpine protected areas data base, based on the collection of geographic data from all over the Alps.
The Hohe Tauern National Park hosted the 20th edition of the Memorial Danilo Re at St. Jakob in Deferenggental (Oss Tyrol –Austria) from 22th to 25th January 2015.
The event is dedicated to Danilo Re a park ranger from the Province of Cuneo (Piemont, Italy) who met his death in the line of duty in 1995.
This year a special tribute has been paid also to the rangers Roselyne Anselmet (National Parc Vanoise) and Valentino Chiale (National Parc Gran Paradiso), both death accidentally during their activities in the summer 2014 .
For many years now, the annual Danilo Re Meet has provided a major opportunity for all those working in Alpine Protected Areas to get acquainted with one another, in particular those in the field, carrying out surveillance, facilitation and fact-finding missions.
The 2015 edition attracted 150 participants who took part in sports competitions and a thematic seminar entitled “Reintroduction and (natural) returns of species, local population and conflicts: the ranger’s role? ”.
Download the presentations
The detailed results of the competitions are available at the Danilo Re web page.
The Triglav National Parc (Team 1) came in first place equally leveled by the National Berchtesgaden (Team 2), and in the third place came the Swiss National Park team.
Congratulations to all the participants!
The 21st edition of the Memorial Danilo Re will take place in the Marguareis Natural Parc (IT), January 2016.
In January 2015, the REEMA, a French partner of ALPARC and a member of the working group Mountain Environmental Education in Alpine Protected Areas, changes its name and becomes EDUC'ALPES. This "Network for Alpine Mountain Education" leads since 10 years various thematic working groups at French Alps' level, among other one group gathering all the staff members of French Alpine Protected Areas dealing with educational topics.
Isabelle Roux is the director of EDUC'ALPES and its team consists at the moment of 5 persons.
A new name means also a new logo and a new homepage:www.educalpes.fr
The National Park Hohe Tauern - Tyrol will host the General Assembly 2015 of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas - ALPARC in the frame of the Memorial Danilo Re.
The National Park Hohe Tauern organizes for the first time in the history of ALPARC its General Assembly. The park, who is one of the founding members of the network and very active since the beginning, will so welcome the two most important events of the ALPARC calendar 2015 in the Defereggental in the valley of St. Jacob.
The 20th edition of the Danilo Re Memorial will take place from Thursday 22nd to Sunday 25th January 2015 in St. Jakob in Defereggental, in the Hohe Tauern National Park, Tyrol, Austria
This will also be the venue for the 2nd General Assembly of the ALPARC association and the first festive event in the context of the 20th anniversary of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas.
More information at the new Danilo Re webpage at this link!
The Swiss Forum on Conservation Biology SWIFCOB is a yearly conference. It aims at improving the dialogue of scientists with biodiversity conservation practitioners. Each conference focuses on one topic. Talks are held in German, French or English.
SWIFCOB 15 will take place on January 16, 2015 in Bern.
