Gran Paradiso National Park
Gran Paradiso – is one of the oldest national parks located in Italy. He took his place in the Grai Alps. The foundation of this reserve was given, back in 1856, by Victor Emmanuel II, who headed Gran Paradiso as a royal hunting reserve. The main reason for creating a reserve on these lands was an alarm signal associated with the disappearance of alpine mountain goats, the number of which was reduced to one hundred heads.
In 1922, the king’s heir, Victor Emmanuel III, founded the very first Italian nature reserve here. At that time, the number of mountain goats was more than 4,000 individuals. But, despite the laws, poaching flourished here and the speed of these animals decreased significantly. In the 40s, there were only 400 of them. Now their number is gradually increasing. Gran Paradiso Park is 703 km away2. and is a mountain section with the peak of the same name. Here, about 40 percent of the land is not touched by humanity. Most of the – park is wastelands and meadows, pastures occupy a little less, approximately the same territory belongs to forests and glaciers. Mining massifs are surrounded by rivers everywhere. On average, the reserve is located at an altitude of 2000 meters above sea level, although there are points where its elevations are recorded more than 4000 meters.
The flora of Gran Paradiso Park is different, rather rich, plant world. Here are both rare plant species and endemic. Local plants also have a strengthening function, preventing landslides, floods and avalanches. Forest massifs, which occupy somewhere around 9% of the territory, are represented by coniferous and deciduous tree species. A significant part of the mountains is occupied by the European letter, and quite a large territory below, occupied under the chestnut forests. Beautiful landscapes create alpine pastures that are salted by a variety of field colors. Late in spring, this territory simply staggers with the diversity and aroma of field plants, among which are the attention of lilies, anuti of the eye, bitterness. Gran Paradiso Park also has a botanical garden where you can admire the rarest species of plants.
In addition to the aforementioned mountain goats, in the Gran Paradiso reserve, badgers, groundhogs, hares, numerous foxes, ferrets and many other animals feel pretty good. About a hundred species of birds chose this territory as their home. Here you can meet partridges, golden eagles, woodpeckers, nuts, as well as winter snowballs.
Getting to the Gran Paradiso National Park is very simple, as the highways of France and Switzerland lead in this direction. The guests of the reserve will have something to do, because various tourist routes have been developed here, which includes bicycle and ski tracks, as well as hiking trails. Here you can not worry about spending the night and food, because living rooms and restaurant complexes are developed in this territory. The French National Park of Vanuatu borders the park, together they form one of the largest protected areas of Western Europe.
