European Park Marittime-Mercantour: how long term transboundary conservation can lead to a juridical common management structure

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European Park Marittime-Mercantour

Starting from their territorial contiguity, the common natural and cultural heritage, the two parks have created a unique protected area of about 1000 km² across the F/I border. A long partnership process, at first generated by the need of common wildlife management, lead then to sustainable development and common visual identity. Thanks to more and more integrated projects, they developed a shared vision, and have finally created a common juridical structure following a new EU regulation: EGTC.

Last update: 02 Oct 2020

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Contexto

Défis à relever

Land and Forest degradation

Loss of Biodiversity

Lack of access to long-term funding

Lack of public and decision maker’s awareness

Poor governance and participation

Scale of implementation

Multi-national

Ecosystems

Temperate deciduous forest

Tema

Access and benefit sharing

Biodiversity mainstreaming

Connectivity / transboundary conservation

Sustainable financing

Protected and conserved areas governance

Local actors

Protected and conserved areas management planning

Culture

Tourism

Ubicación

Alpi Marittime, France

West and South Europe

Impacts

Environment: common management of existing ibex population, reintroduction of bearded vulture, common monitoring of the wolf natural re-colonization. Transboundary scientific research, such as the All Taxa Biological Inventory ATBI. Sustainable development: trail network, common signposting system, sustainable tourism (the parks signed jointly the EUROPARC European Charter for Sustainable Tourism and presented a common strategy and action plan for the whole transboundary area). Financing: Marittime-Mercantour Integrated Transboundary Plan (ITP), 10 million EUR thanks to Interreg ALCOTRA European Programme. This consists in 6 integrated thematic projects: scientific research and nature conservation, cultural identity, territorial management, eco-tourism, soft mobility and environmental education. This Plan has also stimulated the local community involvement. Governance: on May 2013 the EGTC Marittime/Mercantour was officially established, giving birth to the first European Park and producing new ambitious goals such as the inclusion in the UNESCO WH List. This idea now involves other five Italian protected areas, creating a continuous stretch comprising all the ecological successions from the highest mountain to the Mediterranean sea. Included in 2013 in both Italian and French UNESCO’s Tentative Lists as a transboundary natural property with the name of “the Alps of the sea”.