Rethink, Restore, Reconnect

European Day of Parks is just around the corner. Only 11 days left! Events and activities are happening all around the 24th of May. You can find promotional material in many languages here.

In order to rethink, restore and reconnect, we are bringing you 11 examples of events being organized around Europe.

Register your event now!

Germany – 24 May 2022 – European Day of Parks photo contest

Share your most memorable moments and beautiful experiences in and with nature on website and social media pages. Nationale Naturlandschaften e.V. (EUROPARC Germany) and Verband Deutsche Naturparken are organising this German-wide contest together. Participants have the chance to win an overnight stay or other exciting prizes!

Spain – 28 May 2022 – Kayaking tour

Montgrí Natural Park, the Medes Islands and the Baix Ter invite you on a kayak tour to discover the natural values ​​of the Montgrí coast with a specialized guide. What better way to connect to nature than on the water?
More info can be found here.

France – 22 May 2022 – La Grande Traversée du Parc

The Montagne de Reims Regional Natural Park is organizing the Grande Traversée, a very beautiful 22-kilometers hike between Rilly-la-Montagne, Germaine, Mutigny and Aÿ! You will pass through an exceptional vineyard listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site before plunging into an Exceptional Forest, in the heart of the Montagne de Reims Regional Natural Park.

Don’t want to walk that long?

No worries: you can enjoy the festive stops all day long (food, artisans markets, and entertainment) in Rilly-la-Montagne, Germaine and Aÿ-Champagne! Other hiking routes will also be possible from each village: come and test very pretty loops at Rilly-la-Montagne (7 km), Germaine (2 km) and Aÿ-Champagne (10 km).

More information here.

Italy – 24 May 2022 – Natura Itineris Pollino: scopri, osserva, valorizza

The PollinoNational Park will organize walking experiences, immersed in the woods and geological landscapes of the Park, to discover the geopark (UNESCO heritage) and the biodiversity of the woods of the largest Protected Area in Italy.
Find out about all the offered routes (morning and afternoon) here.

UK – 17 May 2022 – Barns, Walls and Bridges

On May 17, the Yorkshire Dales National Park offers a 4 mile (6.4 km) walk through the stunning natural landscape of Upper Wensleydale to explore the dry-stone walls, field barns and bridge, and enjoy stunning panoramic views along the way. The walk includes the woodland and magical waterfalls of Shaw Gill (a Yorkshire Dales hidden gem) and starts at the Dales Countryside Museum.

More information can be found here!

Finland – 26 May 2022 – Birdwatching event by the Lake Muoniojärvi

National Parks Co-Partner Institute, Vocational Institute of Lappia organize this yearly bird watching event with wilderness guides and National Park rangers in training. This event is targeted to the 10-12 years old pupils of the local Elementary School of Muonio, but welcomes all others to join nice outdoor event.

Participants will be able to enjoy load of migratory bird info and also the learning session “How to make useful knots”. The National Park will also offer coffee, tea and sausages by the open fire. Welcome!

Hungary – 28 May 2022 – Bison safari

On Sunday, May 28, Őrség National Park Directorate is organising a unique adventure for wildlife lovers! A visit the Őrség Wilderness with an off-road bison safari! Under strict safety standards, participants will observe the largest terrestrial mammals in Europe up close. The staff will show the life traces of the bison and talk about the results of the program so far.

You can find more information here.

Austria – 26 May 2022 – Eintauchen in den Nationalpark

Interested in experiencing the diverse nature, habitats, animals and plants of the “Green Canyon” of the Thayatal?

The Thayatal National Park organises a 3 hours ranger tour aimed at anyone who has a little more time and would like to spontaneously immerse themselves in the national park and its colourfulness.

More information can be found here!

Netherlands – 24 May 2022 – Op de Paden Bingo

Get on the trails and out in nature with Op de paden bingo!

The National Parken Nederland cooperation has set up a bingo experience for this European Day of Parks. Various themes are reflected on the bingo card (one for inland and one for seaside National Parks around the Netherlands), such as biodiversity, attention to the landscape and of course people. Spot the different insects, flowers, mammals, and much more and complete your bingo card! The activity will help participants pay close attention to the beautiful nature around them and reconnect to our natural heritage.

More information can be found here!

Spain – 24 May 2022 – “We are nature: reflect, restore, reconnect” Conference

EUROPARC Spain is organising a Conference in which several restoration initiatives will be presented. The event is aimed at nature conservation professionals from public administrations, non-governmental organizations and private entities. Registration is free.

More information can be found here.

Romania – 24 May 2022 – European Day of Parks 2022 at Enduro Ranch Park

The Enduro National Park organises events for families and the general public to reconnect and bring people closer to nature.

More information can be found here.

The European Day of Parks is a European-wide celebration for people of all ages and backgrounds. We welcome the wider EUROPARC Network to organise events and register them on our website here.

• 19th of May
• 15:00 CET
• Register here

Wildfires have always been a part of nature. Unfortunately, large-scale and more intense wildfires are becoming increasingly common and have a devastating impact on health & safety, ecological balance and cultural & socio-economic well-being. They also add to climate change. Therefore a holistic wildfire management approach is needed.

The prevention of wildfires and the level of readiness against one might be the most important aspect of wildfire management, since it is better to avoid than to cure. In most cases currently, the observation of wildfire sensitive areas is monitored by a combination of cameras and foresters/park rangers. While this already provides some level of anticipation against wildfires, it has its shortcomings:

• data provided by foresters and park rangers are limited to human capabilities and not continuously monitored;
• observation data is challenging to share between stakeholders so valuable input on forecasting models is lost;
• installed cameras still need to be monitored by an operator in order to detect a wildfire.

In this webinar, we will look at how technology can help prevent wildfires and relieve some of the burden of those who work in Protected Areas. It is organised together with Senhive, with whom EUROPARC partnered up with at the start of this year.

Webinar programme

Welcome and Introduction to the webinar
By Esther Bossink – EUROPARC´s Communications Officer.

EFFIS: Satellite-based risk management
By Jesus San-Miguel-Ayanz – Director Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) Programme – JRC, Italy.

The European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) has been established by the European Commission (EC) in collaboration with the national fire administrations to support the services in charge of the protection of forests against fires in the EU and neighbouring countries. EFFIS is supported by a network of experts from 43 countries and provides satellite-based information on the current fire season in Europe and in the Mediterranean area. This includes today’s meteorological fire danger maps and forecasts up to 9 days, daily updated maps of hot spots (active fires) and fire perimeters.

Sen-Eye: Camera-based wildfire detection
By Thomas Petracca – CEO, Senhive, Belgium.

Sen-Eye is a camera-based autonomous wildfire detection system. It uses AI to autonomously detect wildfires and notify involved stakeholders. Sen-Eye can be installed on any type of IP camera and by fusing EFFIS satellite data with smart power management it can be deployed in off-grid areas where no power nor connectivity is at hand.

Quiz
Those paying close attention to the speakers have a chance to win a 1 year Sen-Eye Cloud license valued at €3500.

Get to know the speakers

Thomas Petracca – CEO, Senhive, Belgium.

Thomas started his career as a telecommunications architect. In 2008 he started his own company by providing IT architecture services to several Fortune 100 companies. His expertise and drive resulted, among others, in the management & design of the Belgian Antarctic station. This eventually inspired him to start a company specialised in remote sensing and led to the creation of Senhive.

Jesus San-Miguel-Ayanz – Director European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), Joint Research Center (JRC), Italy.

Jesus has a PhD and MSc in Wildland Information Science, with majors in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems from the Forestry Department at the University of California-Berkeley, U.S.A. He also has a Forest Engineering Degree from the Polytechnic University, Madrid, Spain. Jesus works at the European Commission Joint Research Centre and coordinates and leads the development of the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) and the Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS). His publication list is available here.

This webinar is co-created by EUROPARC and Senhive and is powered by:

The TransParNet is the network of all certified EUROPARC Transboundary Parks. They meet up, in the so-called TransParcNet, which is host by one of the members of the network. This year, we are happy to invite you to the Binntal Veglia Devero Transboundary Park (CH / IT) from the 28th of June to the 1st of July.

Parks and Cultural Heritage

How great it is to finally come together again face to face after 2 years of online TransParcNet meetings. The theme of this year is: “Parks and Cultural Heritage – Ways to closer involvement and better identification of people with their Parks”. We will meet in the Binntal Veglia Devere Transboundary Park. The event is hosted by Landschaftspark Binntal SWITZERLAND and Parco Naturale Alpe Veglia Alpe Devero (Aree Protette dell’Ossola) ITALY. You can find the official invitation here.

Register now!

Please note that the event is open to all European cross-border areas, but places are limited and priority will be given to the members of the EUROPARC network of Transboundary Parks Programme. Registration closes 1st of June!

Programme

• Tuesday 28th of June in Binn, Switzerland: arrivals and accommodation
• Wednesday 29th of June in Binn, Switzerland: Working Sessions. Different presentations, a small fieldtrip and best practice examples
• Thursday 30th of June in Alpe Devero, Italy: working sessions
• Friday 1st of July: departure or field trip.

Please find the more detailed programme here.

Any other information…

The two Nature Parks Binntal and Alpe Veglia-Devero are located in the border area of the Italian Region of Piemonte and the Swiss Canton of Wallis/Valais. The nearest big city is Milan/Italy. The meeting will be spread out between Binn in Switzerland and Alpe Devero in Italy. For all practical information on travel by public transport, car or plane please have a look at this document here.

If you have any questions concerning the organisation of your travel, please contact Doris Imhasly of Binntal Nature Park at doris.imhasly@landschaftspark-binntal.ch

The SEE project aims to better understand the effects of Outdoor Sports in natural and Protected Areas, as well as globally, considering climate change and other issues.

Moreover, it aims to identify good practices from within the sector and develop resources and methodologies that can enable greater environmental responsibility by Outdoor Sports practitioners.

BeActive… BeOutdoors… BeSustainable

It is undeniable that our decisions about how we travel, what we eat, and the equipment we use in our sports practices affect the natural environment. We need to do everything we can to reduce, if not eliminate, the negative impacts.

Outdoor Sports and physical activity in natural settings can help connect people to nature and create strong empathy for environmental issues. However, Outdoor Sports enthusiasts can also have an impact on the local and global environment.

Report into broader sustainability issues for Outdoor Sports.

The first publication of the SEE Project “Perceived Issues from Outdoor Sports in Protected Areas” highlighted the issues that Outdoor Sports can create in the natural environment and particularly in Protected Areas at the local level.

This new report will focus on the broader issues often but not solely associated with emissions of greenhouse gases and climate change. There are nine identified key areas where Outdoor Sports practitioners can have impact and each of these will be examined in the report:

• Mobility and Travel
• Equipment and consumption
• Waste and use of unsustainable materials
• Infrastructure
• Food and drink
• Social media and communication
• Events – problem or opportunity
• Environmental and nature connectedness
• Championing climate action and being nature advocates

Click on the image to download the full report

Visit the official SEE project website for more information.

SEE project at the EUROPARC Conference

The SEE project was recently a part of the EUROPARC Conference that took place from May 2 – 6 in Neusiedler See – Seewinkel National Park in Austria. The project was presented during the Speakers’ Corner session, as well as in the Market Place. It was a great pleasure to introduce our work to new audiences and familiarise them with everything we have achieved so far.

SEE project at Speakers’ Corner – The EUROPARC Conference 2022

10 Good Principles for Outdoor Sports

Are you a practitioner of outdoor sports? Or a Protected Area that wants to raise awareness on proper behaviour? Then have a look at the 10 Good Principles for Outdoor Sports in Protected Areas that EUROPARC developed together with ENOS.

The SEE project is an extensive collaboration with partners from across Europe. It has received funding from the ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Union.