Kalkalpen WILDForest Brief

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European Wilderness Network Kalkalpen WILDForest

2018 Š European Wilderness Society www.wilderness-society.org


European Wilderness Network

Kalkalpen WILDForest, Austria

WILDForest area

Map scale 1 : 420 000 Š European Wilderness Society www.wilderness-society.org

5 251 ha 2015 Large contiguous area of old-growth beech and mixed forest, favourable habitat for wolf, bear and many other rare species

approx. 12 000

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O

PE

WI

L DE R N E

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PLATINUM

AN

Y

approx. 210 000

ET

Number of visitors per year to the protected area Number of visitors per year to the WILDForest

20 820 ha

R

The 5 251 ha Kalkalpen WILDForest was audited in 2015 and meets the Platinum Wilderness Quality Standard. A European Wilderness Quality Standard Renewal-Audit is scheduled for 2025.

Wilderness Uniqueness

Kalkalpen National Park Kalkalpen WILDForest Austria

EU

European Wilderness Quality Standard Audit System

Protected area Wilderness Country Size of the protected area Size of the WILDForest European Wilderness Quality Standard Audit

ALIT Y QU

The Kalkalpen WILDForest is an hotspot for biodiversity, depending on spontaneous natural processes and ecosystem dynamics. The Kalkalpen WILDForest is an important reference area for comparisons with managed forest. Data from this forest provide an important basis for the evaluation and improvement of nature conservation and the forest management concept all over Europe. KalkalpenWILDForest is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site – Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe.

Wilderness information

E U ROP E A

The 5 251 ha Kalkalpen WILDForest consists of four areas (Hintergebirge, Bodinggraben, Urlach, Wilder Graben) with highly valuable beech forests that are embedded within the boundaries of the Kalkalpen Wilderness. The borders of the Kalkalpen WILDForest are mainly composed of visible biogeophysical barriers. Urlach and Bodinggraben are both bounded by the mountain ridges of the Sengsengebirge.

O WILDERNESS S

CI


Kalkalpen WILDForest / Austria

Biodiversity The Kalkalpen WILDForest is an area of great international importance and a local hotspot for biodiversity, depending on spontaneous natural processes and ecosystem dynamics. It contains representatives of flora and fauna, which are typical for old-growth beech forests. The most striking and impressive features of these forests are big trees, broken tree stems covered with a variety of fungi and deadwood trunks of fallen trees. Priority species include also the sporadically present wolf, the protected alpine long-horned Rosalia beetle, and the bear moth. In 1999, the Eurasian lynx was reintroduced in Kalkalpen National Park. This was an important step for the return of the Eurasian lynx to the Alps.

Wilderness Tourism Experience The Kalkalpen National Park law states that the conventional form of tourism and hiking are not subject to restrictions within the park. The Kalkalpen WILDForest is an important place from a tourism- and recreational perspective. Visitors and other recreational activities have a long tradition in Kalkalpen National Park and the management has made great strides to minimise the negative impact of tourism, in particular in the Kalkalpen WILDForest. Mountain biking is directed outside of the Kalkalpen WILDForest with abandoned forest roads. Pitching tents is allowed in designated spots throughout the Kalkalpen National Park.

Contact Kalkalpen WILDForest Nationalpark Allee 1 4591 Molln, Austria Phone: +43 7584 3651 Website: www.kalkalpen.at

Š European Wilderness Society www.wilderness-society.org


European Wilderness Society

Founded on more than 20 years of Wilderness work by our members, the European Wilderness Society is the only Pan-European, Wilderness and environmental advocacy non-profit, non-government organisation. It has a dedicated multi-cultural and experienced team of Wilderness and wildlife specialists, nature conservationists, researchers and scientists, tourism experts, marketing and business professionals, legal advisors and Wilderness advocates, whose mission is to: XX XX XX XX

identify designate steward promote

Europe’s last Wilderness, WILDCoasts, WILDForests, WILDIslands and WILDRivers. Here non-human intervention leads to open-ended, dynamic processes. This is conveyed through a range of projects that facilitate Wilderness knowledge exchange, including education, culture and science, from local community through to scientific and governmental level.

European Wilderness Network

The European Wilderness Network connects Europe’s wildest places. Certified by the European Wilderness Quality and Audit System, these unique areas host diverse wild ecosystems governed by dynamic open-ended processes, with no or minimum human-intervention. The Network includes, for example, Europe’s last primeval beech forests, the arctic tundra, and mountain landscapes in different climate conditions. It aims to promote Europe’s last Wilderness, WILDCoasts, WILDForests, WILDIslands and WILDRivers, with a comprehensive marketing strategy. The European Wilderness Network offers a platform to share Wilderness Stewardship best-practice examples and Wilderness research. It connects like-minded Wilderness managers and advocates and fosters the exchange of ideas and knowledge across Europe and the world through the European Wilderness Exchange Programme. For more information please see http://european-wilderness.network

European Wilderness Society Registration number / ZVR Zahl: 305471009 Registered in Austria Dechant-Franz-Fuchs Str. 5 | A-5580 Tamsweg EU Transparency registration number: 706136913777-83

www.wilderness-society.org


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