ECONNECT- restoring the web of life

With more than 30.000 species of animals and 13.000 plant species the biological diversity of the Alps is utterly extraordinary. 20.000 invertebrates, 200 nesting bird, 80 mammals, 80 fish, 21 amphibians and 15 reptile species! 39% of the European flora amongst which 417 endemic plants are found only in the Alps. However animals, and plants, need to migrate between different habitats- particularly in times of climate change. They are unable to stop at borders and stay within the fixed boundaries of protected areas so a new approach to the problem is needed.

To connect habitats, protected areas, and biodiversity hotspots and to reduce the fragmentation of populations is now universally recognized as the new frontier for Alpine conservation. 16 partners (five from Austria, five from Italy, three from France, one from Germany, one from Lichtenstein and one from Switzerland) joined forces to support the ambitious and multidisciplinary EU funded European Alpine Space Project. The Econnect project started in September 2008 and will continue until August 2011 with a financial investment of over 3 million euros. The first step of the project will involve the standardization of geographical data, identification of physical and legal barriers and then outlining of on a common methodology to pinpoint the corridors at a pan-european level. To begin, with the project will emphasize the implementation of guidelines and good practices in a pilot study thus forming a blueprint for action across the Alpine range.

To achieve these aims Econnect’s partnership includes national and regional administrations, international NGOs, research institutions and protected areas. WWF Italy represents the European Alpine Programme in this projects and will be concentrating on all the communication aspects of the Econect project.

(extract from WWF Italy website)

THE PARTNERS

Leader: University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna; Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology (FIWI) (A)
Other partners:
Ministero Ambiente, Italia (I)
Accademia Europe di Bolzano (I)
WWF Italia (I)
Parco Naturale Alpi Marittime (I)
Regione Autonoma Valle d’Aosta (I)
University of Innsbruck-Institute Ecology (A) Umweltbundesamt GmbH (A) National Park Gesäuse GmbH (A) National Park Höhe Tauern (A) Council of Department of Isere (F) Task Force of Protected Areas (F) Scientific research centre CEMAGREF (F) National Park Berchtesgaden (DE) CIPRA International (LI) Swiss National Park (CH)