The administration of the Network of Alpine Protected Areas (ALPARC) was transferred to the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention (AC) by the French government on 10 July 2006. At a ceremonial act in Chambéry Nelly Olin, the French Minister for Ecology and Sustainable Development, finalised the step, which had already been decided by the AC Ministerial Conference in 2004.
As part of the restructuring process the new ALPARC administration, or ALPARC Task Force, also moved in to new premises at the Maison des Parcs et de la Montage in Chambéry/F. Its duties include the implementation of international projects for the preservation of fauna, flora and alpine habitats, the promotion of regional products from protected areas as well as sustainable tourism involving local and regional projects. ALPARC has also been entrusted with setting up an integrated cross-border ecological system that allows the establishment of a continuous network of ecological corridors in the Alps. Its core is the existing network of Alpine protected areas, which was founded by France with the support of Slovenia in 1995. It combines more than 800 large protected areas in the Alps.
Sources and information: http://www.alparc.org (de/fr/it/sl/en),
http://www.mountains2b.com/211-Aktuelles_News (de)