Name: Maritime Alps

Surface (ha): 534,686.000

 

Main land uses and ownership status of the project area:

The area covers 12 valleys of SW Alps, from 250 mt to over 3000 mt. The area is typically alpine. The urbanized and agricultural areas occupy a small area (2%), mainly located in the valley bottom; the residual territory is occupied by forests (40%), grasslands (35%), rocks and cliffs (23%). Tourism is almost exclusively hiking or mountain skiing type. Shepherds occupy pasture areas only during the summer, which generally goes from June to September. Lands are rarely owned by shepherd, who

doesn’t often live in the valley, but they are leased. Over the 55% of the territory is publicly owned, mostly municipal. The SPA occupy the 40% of the area, pSCI the 27% (partly they overlap with SPA) and SIR less than 1%. The Parco Naturale Alpi Marittime, Parco Naturale del Marguareis, (and the reserves managed by them), and Parc National du Mercantour occupy more than 30% of the territory.

 

Natural features of the area:

From the geological point of view the greatest part of the territory is typically alpine: high altitudes, slopes with strong inclinations, complex geologic nature and short vegetative growing seasons. The climate of the south-western Alps is influenced by the proximity to the Mediterranean Sea (less than 20 km as the crow flies), that mild the rigors of the winter season and cause an irregular distribution of rainfall. Several factors, such as temperature, altitude, exposure and windiness, make that every valley groups a multitude of microclimates that are at the base of the flora and fauna wealth of the territory: a crossroads where Alpine, Provencal, Mediterranean and Ligurian influences are mixed, that allows the coexistence of arctic-alpine species (such as ptarmigan, Lagopus mutus helveticus) and typical Mediterranean species (such as the Phoenician juniper, Juniperus phoenicea).

The particular biogeography position, the geologic and climatic variety explain therefore the extraordinary biodiversity of this alpine sector. In the core area territory until today over 80 species of mammals (of which 30 bats species, and 6 species of ungulates existing in the Alps), 210 species of birds, about 10 of fishes, 7 of amphibians and 12 of reptiles have been recorded. The high density, the variety of ungulates of the overall core area and generally the environmental ability, have facilitated the natural coming of species disappeared for a long time in the region, such as the wolf, further increasing the degree of biodiversity.

 

The wolf

The advent of the wolf has been made sure in 1992, when the first sure observation have been done in Parc National du Mercantour. The wolf natural recolonization of the Alps started in this core area of the South Western Alps from natural dispersals of wolves coming from the North Apennines. The first reproducing wolf packs that have been settled from the Apennines were documented in the core area.