In the pilot area in the Northern Limestone Alps at the borders of Upper Austria, Styria and Lower Austria extensive forests cover a lot of the mountainous alpine landscape. Difficult access partly restrained the development of land for human settlement and forestry in this region. Natural forests therefore remain in some hidden places and outstanding biodiversity. Many endangered species can be found there – amongst them animals and plants completely unique to this region. It is truly a hotspot of biodiversity, which is protected by a dense protected area network. Three of the protected areas are accredited by IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, as Strict Nature Reserve or National Park with their own management teams. Kalkalpen National Park and Gesäuse National Park together with their surrounding region represent one of the pilot areas within greenAlps. This Northern Limestone Alps region was also one of the pilot regions in ECONNECT. At the moment the three protected areas in the Northern Limestone Alps region work together within the project “Netzwerk Naturwald” www.netzwerk-naturwald.at  to improve ecological connectivity and to raise awareness of this topic and of the outstanding natural potential in the Northern Limestone Alps region.

Report of site visit to the pilot area

Stakeholder workshop: biosphere reserves – an opportunity for regional ecological networks, 20/05/2014 in Molln