J_oint E_cological C_ontinuum A_{nalysing and} M_apping I_nitiative 2.0 On ecological connectivity

The National Park Berchtesgaden is located in the southeast of Germany, in the federal state of Bavaria and adjoining the Austrian federal state Salzburg. It was founded in 1978. The federal state of Bavaria owns the area where it expands (210 square kilometers), and, although the park occupies parts of the territory of five municipalities, the managing board has full decision power on it. In addition, the park is the core and buffer zone of the UNESCO biosphere region Berchtesgaden. The Park is IUCN Category II, NATURA 2000 site (FFH- and SPA-area) and holds the EUROPEAN DIPLOMA of Protected Areas. The Park is a model of regional development, it is perceived as a fundamental actor for the development of the region and has a strong relationship with the five local communities that have a portion of their territories inside of the National Park’s one. The main field of cooperation lies in the development of the regional landscape plans. The planning is done together with the society, gathering then a political bond. This activity poses the basis for regional cooperation and in the BTG region is seen as a positive example for the whole Bavarian State. One of the main touristic offer in the Berchtesgaden National Park is the big presence of bike routes, which allow tourists to get to know the park amenities in a sustainable way. Nevertheless, the spreading of new technologies for mountain bikes has given the opportunity to reach high-value mountain and core areas, up to now inaccessible to the most. With these technologies (e-bikes), much more people can reach remote places in important and strategic areas for ecological connectivity. The basic hypothesis is that the allowance of more people in remote areas, without a monitoring on the potential environmental and social impacts, can create a disturbance to both wildlife presence and dispersal and also to rooted and traditional economic activities (i.e.,hunting).

The question is:

Is it acceptable that, for touristic reasons, humans are enabled to reach any remote place of the National Park territory despite of the potential negative impact they may provide to the wildlife species?

Local stakeholders and Park’s managers chose to discuss the development of new technologies for bike tourism, which may result in an increased presence of visitors in remote areas. Their main concern relies on the fear that the stakeholders’ activities could be disrupted by these new tourism opportunities. The focus of discussion was on E-mountain bikes, a recreational activity seducing more and more people of all ages and background. Being democratized, the use of E-mountain bikes results in both increasing the traffic and extending the use of mountain wild areas. Wildlife is therefore expected to experience more disturbance and a behavioural change.

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The two regions have a long history of cooperation in terms of wildlife monitoring, nature protection and touristic activities. A common transnational topic was chosen, that allowed to gather the stakeholders around the same table of discussion. The Hohe Tauern National Park is an attractive destination for outdoor sportspeople to enjoy peace, experience nature and find some balance to everyday life. Natural and near-natural cultural landscapes are coming under strong pressure due to the increase in settlement, traffic and infrastructure construction and the intensification of agriculture and forestry. The habitat for plants and animals is getting ever scarcer. The area is famous for its predisposition to sports activities, especially to paragliding, due to its extension and wideness. This central alpine region attracts a significant amount of tourists, both from the surroundings and from other countries.

The main questions are:

How can the awareness of tourists be raised up about the potential impact of paragliding and other sport activities on local wildlife presence and movements? How to reduce the potential negative effects of paragliding on local wildlife?

The activity of paragliding has recently started to spread in the Hohe Tauern/South Tyrol area. Paragliders’ routes usually start from South Tyrol in Italy to land in Hohe Tauern in Austria, mainly in the Defereggen Valley. The potential chain reaction of the paragliding activity impact was highlighted. There is a general concern about this activity regarding the fact that paragliders frighten terrestrial wildlife, pushing it down the valley or inside forests, where it will ultimately create damages to economic activities. It would also result in decreasing the level of protection that is assigned to some forest areas. Different categories of stakeholders (e.g. hunters, foresters) reported some negative disturbance of their activities due to the presence of paragliders disturbed deer.

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The NPK has worked on issues of ecological connectivity in the projects ECONNECT and greenAlps. With the Netzwerk Naturwald project, the NPK has established an outstanding EC programme, serving as a best practice example. It as has wide experiences with special species protection measures and stakeholder dialogue. The area of NPK lies within a pilot region nominated by the Alpine Convention. The region Oberösterreich is very active in the topic of large carnivore’s management.

The main questions are:

How can the National Park improve the management of protected species? How can better engage the local stakeholders in the activities related to contrast poaching? How can the Park increase the awareness and participation of local communities to conservation projects?

From 2011, the remaining population of lynxes was supported by the release of other individuals inside the park in order to avoid the extinction of the species in the area. Meanwhile, an ad hoc group composed by local stakeholders was created in order to involve prominent stakeholders in the management of the lynx. Likely to attack domestic animals and to affect wild ungulates population carefully managed by hunters and for hunting reasons, the reintroduction and the presence of the lynx is indeed a source of controversy. In this area, the human dimension of the conflict is apparent: the tension between the different of local stakeholders (e.g. environmentalists, the National Park, administrations and hunters) on this regards is a fundamental issue to take into account in order to define an adequate management of wildlife that could allow the enhancement of ecological connectivity.

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The Espace Mont-Blanc covers territories belonging to Savoie and Haute-Savoie (France), the Autonomous Region of the Aosta Valley (Italy), and the Canton of Valais (Switzerland). In this vast area, around 3500 km2, you can find an exceptional richness in terms of natural environments and alpine landscapes. A large part of the Espace Mont-Blanc is located at high altitude: nearly 80% of the territory is situated above 500 meters. The land use is quite varied, depending on whether you are passing through the areas at the bottom of the valley or the most elevated summits. People permanently use about 20% of the surface of the Espace Mont-Blanc for housing and for agricultural, artisanal, and tourist activities.

The main questions are:

How can administrations provide for both the safety of roads and highways and for the need of biodiversity conservation and the protection of some prominent ecological corridors? How can local stakeholders be involved in a public participation process in order to manage the animal-vehicle collision issue?

Most of human equipment and grey infrastructures are mass in the bottom of the valleys, with ecological connectivity problems for fauna. Collisions between vehicles and animals are an important human-nature conflict. This region is very attractive for tourists. Important areas are subject to protection measures provided either by national or regional legal foundations, or by European programmes for safeguarding the natural environment. The safeguard measures for natural and landscaped environments are intended to form a comprehensive strategy for the conservation of biodiversity involving all the interested actors in the territory. Its natural and landscaped heritage makes the Espace Mont-Blanc a laboratory for implementing actions involving protection and development requirements. There are currently no activities on the ground for the prevention and mitigation of the car accidents phenomenon. These prevention systems could even bring new job opportunities for the area. The thematic is completely new for the region and they wish to develop the collaboration on this topic in the next years. Local stakeholders are already working on the topic on their own and for their specific needs, but currently, there are no strategies and agreed vision. The mitigation of wildlife-car accidents is one of the main topics for this Project Working Region.

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The relationship between the two partners is very close and Europarc as “Transboundary Ecoregion” has certified the area composed by Julian Prealps Nature Park, Triglav National Park and Slovenia’s Julian Alps MaB UNESCO area in 2009. In this territory, we find high mountains and green valleys, richness of wildlife and flora with increased levels of biodiversity and villages where old traditions and manufacturing of exclusive typical products are still alive. In 2014, certification was confirmed and the Alpine Convention proclaimed the whole area of two parks as a “Transboundary Pilot Region for Ecological Connectivity”.

The main questions are:

How can the two protected areas improve the management of pastures and avoid conflicts among stakeholders? How can the transboundary area enhance the co-management of large carnivores and increase the local cooperation?

Local partners decided to concentrate more on the management aspects of pastures, livestock breeding, ungulates and large carnivores’ transnational management, with the aim to enhance local and transnational cooperation to face new challenges and promote regional development. Large carnivores’ predations happened frequently in the last years within the transboundary region and represent a “hot” argument of discussion in both Parks. Farmers, private owners, local communities, and institutions are very interested to get as much information as possible to understand how they can contribute to manage this issue and reduce the current impact of the conflict. Local stakeholders appeared to be highly involved in the local and transnational management process.

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