AlpsLife – observe globally, act locally
Protection of alpine life through monitoring and management of alpine biodiversity for the future.
The Alps are a global biodiversity hotspot whose unique ecosystems are facing significant threats from climate change and land use pressures. Efforts to conserve and restore Alpine biodiversity are often fragmented due to a lack of Alpine-wide coordination and varying biodiversity monitoring schemes across different countries. Ecological indicators are an important tool for identifying priority areas for restoration or conservation measures and for supporting policy decisions. Based on existing EU indicators for conservation or restoration measures, the AlpsLife project identifies suitable indicators for the Alpine region and tests them in practice; they are then adapted to the political needs of the Alpine countries. This project is co-funded by the European Union through the Interreg Alpine Space programme and is a partnership across multiple scales and across the Alpine space. These collaborators include scientific institutions such as Eurac Research, Universität Innsbruck, and the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA); the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC); CIPRA Lab; and protected areas from various Alpine countries.
Triglav National Park (TNP) cooperates with other project partners and provides support in the implementation of project activities. As one of the pilot macro-areas, it contributes to the selection and evaluation of appropriate biodiversity indicators and existing monitoring approaches in the Eastern Alps. TNP has a lot of experience in the field of local, regional, national and cross-border communications with stakeholders and the public; therefore, it also participates in the analysis of stakeholders and management mechanisms for monitoring biodiversity in the Alpine macro-region.
Project aims
- Identify priority areas for restoration or conservation measures in the Alps.
- Select EU indicators to be downscaled at the Alpine level and develop interoperability strategies that establish a common understanding of the conservation status of the Alpine biodiversity.
- To contribute to the objectives of the Biodiversity Action Plan defined by the Alpine Convention's Biodiversity Council through inter-country and inter-generational coordination at European, Alpine, national and regional levels.
Project activities
- Determination of individual comparable indicators for the long-term protection of certain areas and/or measures for ecological restoration.
- Transfer of existing EU indicators on the Alpine area to achieve a common understanding of the conservation status of Alpine biodiversity.
- Test of selected indicators in practice.
- Ensure coherence with the policy needs of the Alpine countries.
Project acronym: AlpsLife
Project identification number: ASP0500335
Project Title: AlpsLife: Protect Alpine Life by monitoring and managing Alpine biodiversity for the future. »Observing globally, acting locally«.
Lead partner: IT – EURAC - EURAC Research center https://www.eurac.edu/en
Project partners:
AT – UIBK - University of Innsbruck https://www.uibk.ac.at/en/
FR - ALPARC – Alpine Network of Protected Areas ALPARC https://alparc.org/sl/
IT - ISPRA – Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research https://www.isprambiente.gov.it/en
DE – NPB - Berchtesgaden National Park https://www.nationalpark-berchtesgaden.bayern.de/
SI - TNP - Triglav National Park http://www.tnp.si/sl/spoznajte/
AT – NPG - Gesäuse National Park https://nationalpark-gesaeuse.at/
FR – ASTERS - Asters Nature Reserve https://www.cen-haute-savoie.org/
IT – PNGP - Gran Paradiso National Park https://www.pngp.it/
CH – SNP - Swiss National Park https://nationalpark.ch/en/
IT – EPNS - Stelvio National Park https://www.nationalpark-stelvio.it/en/stelvio-national-park.html
Coordinator for TNP: Andrej Arih
Project duration: 01.09.2024 – 31.08.2027 – 36 months
Financial value of the project: 2.916.176,00 EUR (ERDF financing 2.082.132,30 EUR)
Financial value of the project for JZ TNP: 130.860,00 EUR (ERDF financing 98.145,00 EUR)
The project is co-financed: ERDF (75 %), JZ TNP (25 %)
Website: https://www.alpine-space.eu/project/alpslife/
Activities and results of the project
