Nature doesn’t recognize political borders. These borders nevertheless influence the management of conservation areas. The Europarc organization is supporting cross-border collaboration with the “Transboundary Park” certification process.

Europarc is a Europe-wide umbrella organization representing more than 400 conservation areas. The Italian-Swiss “Binntal-Veglia-Devero Transboundary Park” received this prestigious award at the end of September. Paolo Crosa Lenz is the president of the Italian Veglia-Devero Nature Park. According to him, residents of both Nature Parks, such as chamois and ibexes, move freely across the border. “Humans are hiking together, learning together, working together, conserving together and celebrating together – without borders.”

The two parks share a joint border of 24 km. Collaboration started in the year 2013 with the signing of a cooperation treaty and a joint vision for the year 2019. Central elements of the exchange are a yearly meeting and a coordination group for joint events. The Alpine Binntal-Veglia-Devero region is well-known for its mineral wealth: almost three hundred different minerals have been discovered there – among them two dozen that are unique in the world. The “Binntal-Veglia-Devero Transboundary Park” is the second of its kind in the Alps, after the cross-border park shared between Slovenia and Italy in the Julian Alps.

Sources and more information:

www.europarc.org/nature/transboundary-cooperation/transboundary-parks-programme www.landschaftspark-binntal.ch/de/verein-projekte/aktuelles/neuigkeiten.php?id=856 (de), www.areeprotetteossola.it/it/ente-parchi/ufficio-stampa/archivio-news-e-comunicati-stampa/1858-il-parco-naturale-veglia-devero-e-il-landschaftspark-binntal-riconosciuti-in-lettonia-come-transboundary-park (it)