The Park » Planning

Possible activities

One of the most common (and false!) clichés about parks is that inside a protected area, you can no longer do anything.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The Park Plan in fact identifies activities compatible with conserving the environment and not only allows them, but in some cases even encourages and incentivises them through targeted action.

Farming
The current state of neglect rules out a full return to traditional land usage, although in some cases, expansion of woodland can be stopped by exploiting forage potential. Large areas of secondary grassland on south facing slopes in the Park, formerly cut regularly, have been abandoned for decades. In some cases, they can be profitably used to graze sheep, in others the Plan would like to see the grass cut again with a view to improving the habitat.
Given the positive repercussions of primary production, not just in terms of the economic and social benefits, but also for the natural habitat and landscape, the Park Plan emphasises the importance of incentivising farming wherever possible and technically feasible, encouraging technologies and crops compatible with consistently high environmental standards.

Pastureland
The Plan proposes supporting the farming activities associated with a number of historic summer grazing enclosures ("malghe"): the Casera dei Boschi, Malga Vette Grandi, Malga Erera and Malga Pramper.
It identifies the necessary conditions for setting up a model malga in which to develop technologies (for subsequent transfer to other malghe in the Park) involving alternative energy sources, energy recovery from waste and biomass, disposal of animal waste and reduction of water pollution caused by animal rearing.
As regards sheep grazing, the Park Plan includes a series of precautions designed to protect vulnerable environments (strict nature reserves, peaks and scree, etc.).

Forestry
The protected area includes various types of situation, with woods owned by the state, the region and local authorities, woods with collective use rights and private woods. For the Park, the fact that the majority of woods in the Park are included in State Nature Reserves set up in the 1970s and run by the former State Owned Forests Agency (Azienda di Stato delle Foreste Demaniali) according to very conservative criteria is a major strong point.
The overall strategy specified in the Plan for State-owned woodland limits conversion and felling to localised easily accessible areas. As a general rule, the Plan recommends leaving the rest to evolve naturally. In the case of private woods (a minority), the Plan recognises that they represent an important source of supplementary income for local residents in the southern part of the Park and an Improvement Plan is considered essential.

The built heritage, a resource to be protected
The Plan considers the existing built heritage as a resource to be protected, given that conservation and valorisation of the signs left by the historic presence of man in the Park area is a way of passing on the history and local culture, ways of life, social and production organisation, man's relationship with the environment and traditions.
Historic settlements have been identified as of cultural interest; religious buildings, villas and stately homes and buildings associated with roads (hospices, stage posts, inns) as of historical-architectural interest; rural settlements or structures associated with forestry and farming as of historical-environmental heritage and industrial archaeology as of historical-testimonial interest.
The Plan also includes military structures, boundary markers and archaeological remains.

Environmental recovery
There are more than 80 water catchment points in the protected area, in many cases constructed without respect for the environment. Where possible, acceptable levels of naturalness must therefore be reconstructed, bearing in mind that springs and wetlands must be considered as elements of extreme sensitivity and vulnerability and that the Park exists to safeguard resources such as water which on this planet is starting to assume the dimension of a precious asset. As regards environmental deterioration of abandoned farmland, the Plan proposes a series of priority measures involving grass cutting and stopping the advance of woodland.
In the case of service infrastructure, the Plan provides for any new networks which may need to be constructed on the valley floor in both conservation areas and economic and social development areas to be buried.

Surveillance
The Plan specifies the surveillance activities to be carried out by the State Forestry Corps, an essential prerequisite for correct functioning of the Park and - given the limited number of access routes suitable for vehicles and the time required to move about on foot - also identifies a series of "forest huts" able to provide accommodation for Forestry Corps personnel during normal patrols.

Purchase of land and buildings
The Plan orients possible purchasing in four directions: structures to facilitate use of the Park; structures in support of surveillance and control activities; land and structures for studies and experiments and areas with natural value.
In consideration of possible expansion of the protected area, the Plan considers the purchase of biotopes to be a priority, with particular reference to wetlands suitable for carrying out educational and research activities.

Information and education
The Park Plan covers information and environmental education activities for residents, children, students, researchers, enthusiasts and casual holidaymakers. It includes visitor centres, information points, areas with recreational facilities, multi-theme nature trails, themed trails, display areas, logistical support structures, valorisation of special features along nature trails and themed trails and tools for educational and information activities.
The Plan includes professional training for experts able to undertake a complex programme of educational activities.

Research and relations with authorities
A national park is by its very nature a scientific laboratory and ideal location for research. The Plan emphasises the desirability of passing gradually to a level of study in which scientific research takes precedence over the pure acquisition of knowledge concerning the structure of the area. The Plan also indicates a number of working hypotheses which could contribute to the organisation of cultural activities and environmental education.

The special projects
One of the ways the Park Plan is implemented is through development of special projects with specific objectives:
· Forestry and woodland improvement;
· Animals, habitats and health;
· Land conservation and risk abatement (protection from hydrogeological and hydraulic risk, protection from forest fires);
· The animal husbandry-forage production system;
· The model malga;
· Promotion of local products (honey, herbs, rural crafts, Park logo);
· Conservation, safeguarding and promotion of the built heritage;
· Geographical Information System.

First problem, resources
The financial resources the Park can mobilise are in no way adequate to implement all the Park's proposed activities.
The following priorities have therefore been defined:
· action to improve the quality of man's presence in the Park, particularly in support of forestry, animal husbandry and environmental and natural history education.
· recovery of the built heritage, with priority to buildings used for surveillance activities or with multiple functions.
These are therefore the sectors in which the Park's activities have been most strongly concentrated during the first years of work.