Pyrenees National Park (Parc national des Pyrénées) - Parque nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido

Pyrenees National Park (Parc national des Pyrénées) - Parque nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido

Interreg programme : Interreg III A France - Spain

Countries : France, Spain

Theme(s) project : Country sites, tourism, environment, natural spaces

Description : Spread over 100 km of the French-Spanish border, these two parks enjoy a close relationship. A joint cross-border charter was signed in 1988 and the two parks were jointly registered as a UNESCO world heritage site ten years later. Their cooperation covers a large number of issues and activities.

Partner(s) : - Parc national des Pyrénées - Parque nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido

Objectives : The overall objective of the project is to develop a shared management structure for the two parks, in order to preserve the exceptional natural environment.

Project activities : The two parks began to cooperate in September 1988 with the signing of a cross-border charter. This 1998 Cooperation Charter set down the following strands of activity: "People and institutions working together..." : - the "Patronato" and the Conseil d´Administration (Administrative Council) shall invite an observer from the other park to each of their meetings and ensure that a qualified person is associated with their scientific bodies, - the operational teams shall organise two meetings per year, one of which is "technical" for staff training purposes and the other "administrative" for the purposes of summarising cooperation over the year, - the two parks shall share all information and documentantion useful to any common issues facing them, - they shall cooperate actively in terms of monitoring the area, - they shall work together to promote the environment of the parks internationally, in terms of both cross-border activities and relationships with institutions such as UNESCO; they shall also cooperate to bid for and implement financial support mechanisms such as the INTERREG programme. "...by welcoming and promoting a jointly agreed programme of sustainable development between communities..." : - the two parks shall present common bilingual documentation to the public and coordinate their respective websites, - signage shall be harmonised, - the two parks shall strengthen their shared editorial policy, particularly in terms of the educational development of their area, - jointly agreed guidelines shall be followed to regulate and organise the number of tourists visiting the parks, - the two parks shall encourage school exchange trips and the learning of both languages, - they shall initiate jointly agreed development activities with regard to countryside management, rehabilitation of the built environment, development of local crafts, and so on, "...so as to harmonise the management of their area" : - each park shall consult with its counterpart to establish planning tools, - a joint management plan is being studied to ensure that the objectives followed by each park are in accord, - scientific activities shall be subject to a common programme, - monitoring of fauna, flora and the local human population shall be the subject of coordinated record-keeping and inventories, with the goal of harmonising and sharing cartographic databases, - the two parks shall coordinate their activities with regard to conserving sensitive populations of species within the area. Among the most recent concrete activities carried out jointly by the Spanish and French parks, one can point to the exhibition and film presenting the two parks´ world heritage status. This was organised in 2000 under the auspices of the Ordesa-Monte Perdido National Park. In 2001, the two parks together drew up a management plan for the Gavarnie site, which was granted a subsidy of Euro 150 000 for its reclassification. In 2002, scientific cooperation was stepped up with notable links formed with the universities of Vigo and Zaragoza. Contact between staff on common management issues and the writing of a joint activity report in the context of registering as a world heritage site were also undertaken.

Website(s) : Parc National des Pyrénées , Région Aquitaine - La coopération transfrontalière ,

Contact : Parc National des Pyrénées 59 route de Pau 65500 Tarbes France Phone : +33 (0)5 62 44 36 60 Mail : pyrenees.parc.national@espaces-naturels.fr