The alpine ecological network will have to play an important role in the years to come. The global warming of the planet entails important changes for species and habitats with a real risk of biodiversity loss. (...)

The first meetings of the pilot regions took place during 2009 with already encouraging results concerning the definition of data needs, the importance linked to legal aspects and the choice of species within the ecological network. (...)

The Task Force Protected Areas, attached to the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention, efficiently pursues its concerted actions with the professionals of the alpine network and the large public in order to implement the article 12 of the protocol "Nature conservation and landscape management" of the Alpine Convention. To reach these aims, the coordination team is again complete with three additional colleagues in its office in Chambéry / France. (...)

The Task Force Protected Areas had the honour to welcome the State Secretary of the German Ministry of Environment, Mr. Michael Müller, in the French protected areas of the Alps. From 27th - 30th July 2009 he visited Chambéry, the Vanoise National Park, the Ecrins National Park and the Chartreuse Nature Regional Park. (...)

More than 170 professionals, practitioners and students coming from 12 nations participated in the “4th Symposium of the Hohe Tauern National Park for Research in, for and about Protected Areas”, which took place at the Kaprun Castle, Salzburg / Austria from 17th – 19th September 2009. (...)

A new ViViAlp station has been installed in the Gran Paradiso National Park in Italy. The inauguration of this new equipment took place in the visitors’ centre of Cogne on Monday, 10th August 2009. (...)

The 28th August 2009 was a red-letter day for the Swiss parks network. The Federal Office for the Environment granted 8 out of 9 requests for the creation of parks and acknowledged two new parks as “Park of national importance”. Hence, the landscape of Swiss parks continuously takes on better forms. (...)

The new French presidency will carry on the activities of the Platform (...)

For the first time the thematic brochure of ALPARC extends its field of action also beyond the Alps. Due to the subject "Large carnivores in the protected areas" the tight cooperation with the Carpathian massif was practically indispensable. (...)

In order to improve the preservation of large carnivores in the Alps and the Carpathians, the international colloquium "Large carnivores: management, research and public relation strategies of the protected areas" was organised in the Nizke Tatry National Park in Slovakia from 2nd - 4th July 2009. (...)