GRAN PARADISO PARK

2^F San Giovanni school

The Park map
History of the park
The events of the Park are strictly
linked to the protection of the
wild goat. Already in 1856, King
Vittorio Emanuele II declared the
Royal Hunting Reserve a part of
the current territory of the Park,
avoiding in this way the
extinction of the wild goat whose
number had been enormously
reduced.

In 1920, King Vittorio Emanuele

III gave to the Italian government
the 2,100 hectares of the hunting
reserve in order to create a
national park. Two years later, on
Dec. 3, Gran Paradiso National
Park was established: the first
Italian national park.
 The Park
The territory of the Park,
Environments
between the Piemonte and
Valle d'Aosta regions,
extends itself for about
70,000 hectares in a mainly
Alpine environment.
In the valleys the most
frequent trees are: the
larches, mixed with spruce
firs, Swiss stone pines,
and rarely silver firs.
Going up along the slopes
the trees are replaced by
wide alpine pastures,
which are rich in flowers in
the late spring.
Going higher again the
landscape is characterized
by rocks and glaciers, up to
the highest peaks of the
massif reaching the 4,061
meters with the Gran
Paradiso peak.
 ENVIROMENTS
In the park there are
several
lakes , ponds , rivers and
streams.

The rock faces or rocky

slopes
are also environmental
typologies with extreme
conditions for vegetation
because of the snow.
 CULTURAL HERITAGE
The inhabitants of villages and
the alpine summer grazing
lands were shepherds.
On the slope of the Piemonte
region, the houses are entirely
built in stone, while on the
slope of the Valle d'Aosta region
they are built both in stone and
wood. The most common model
(with variations according to the
valleys) is a wood and stone
building with the stable situated
on the ground floor, the home
on the first floor, and the hay
loft on the second floor, in order
to keep the house as warm as
possible.
 Animals in the park
The symbol of the Park is the wild
goat (Capra ibex), therefore it is
not hard to observe it on the Alpine
pasturelands. The males, which can
be recognized from their long and
curved horns, live in small groups,
while the females, characterized by
shorter horns, live with the young
individuals in separate groups.

The marmot (Marmota

marmota) usually announces itself
with a whistle: with its strong nails
it digs long underground galleries
used as a shelter in case of danger
and for the hibernation.
Wild goat
 The Bearded Vulture
(Gypaetus barbatus)
disappeared in 1912 and it has
now been reintroduced in the
Alps thanks to an international
project. Another big bird of
prey nests in the area, the
golden eagle, which is not
difficult to observe.

The crossbill (Loxia

curvirostra) is characterized by
its beak with crossed tips: this
peculiarity allows it to lever on
the pine cones to extract the
seeds. It is a typical bird living
in the conifer woods.