From 9–11 December 2025, the first meeting of the new ALPARC CENTR’ALPS event series “Networking Nature Conservation” took place at Parc Ela in Lantsch/Lenz (Switzerland), focusing on environmental education and the ranger profession. Representatives from Switzerland, Germany and Austria took part in the meeting, covering a wide range of protected area categories.
The project “Networking Nature Conservation” is an association-funded initiative aimed at strengthening the work of protected areas, intensifying their cooperation and improving ecological connectivity. A key element of the project is exchange events for experts from protected areas, enabling them to share experiences, discuss common challenges and further develop new insights in a practice-oriented way. During the meeting, it became clear that, despite differing national frameworks, protected areas face similar challenges. At the same time, it was evident that the Alps, as a transnational natural and cultural landscape, share many common characteristics that foster close cross-border cooperation.
One thematic focus was the ranger profession. The different training paths, task profiles and organizational structures in the individual countries and protected area categories were presented. Differences already exist in terminology: for example, in the Swiss National Park, park wardens largely carry out the tasks that are performed by rangers in Germany and Austria. In addition, differences in available human and financial resources between the various protected area categories were discussed.
Another focus was on environmental education. Participants presented a wide variety of environmental education activities, whose exchange in a shared pool could promote synergies and save resources. In particular, the concept of mobile information stands, which gained importance during the COVID-19 pandemic, was discussed as a practical and flexible tool for visitor information and awareness-raising.
In addition to the expert inputs, joint ideas for future cooperation and concrete opportunities for collaboration were developed in workshop formats. The open exchange contributed significantly to mutual learning and to developing shared perspectives for further project work.
We would like to thank the committed participants as well as the hosts from Parc Ela and the Network of Swiss Parks, who made the meeting an extremely interesting and productive event in both content and organization.
The next meeting of the event series, focusing on “Digital Tools in Park Management” and “Biodiversity Monitoring”, is already scheduled for 27–29 April 2026 and will take place at the Nagelfluhkette Nature Park. The relevant information documents have already been published on our website.
The project is funded by the BfN (German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation) with funds from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUKN).
© Image: ALPARC