SLIDE 1: INTRODUCTION, two sides of the same mountain Alpi Marittime Nature Park (I) and (F) are two adjoining protected areas divided by a political border. The geographical unity is based on the complement of the North, Italian, and South, French, sides of the Maritime . From the historical and cultural point of view and from the scientific and naturalistic one, these two parks represent the two complementary parts of a whole.

SLIDE 2: SITUATION The two parks together protect a total area of about 100.000 hectares in the heart of Maritime Alps, at the west edge of the Alpine Range, only 50 km from the .

SLIDE 3: UNITY and DIVERSITY UNITY: The geographical unity is clearly visible from the geological features of the crystalline heart of /Mercantour massif. Around the elliptic massif a band of sedimentary rock has stratified, so from the geological point of view the region is extremely diversified. The boundaries of the two parks are shown in yellow in the map. DIVERSITY: The high altitude (3.300 mt) combined with the vicinity of the sea generates a microclimate variety. This one, with the glaciations and the geological diversity, is responsible for the existence in the Maritime Alps of a kind of flora and fauna really unique in Europe. Actually, there is the simultaneous presence of species from the mediterranean and arctic regions and, most of all, a high density of unique endemism species. So the Maritime Alps should be considered as a hot spot for biodiversity. This is the first site in Europe (and second in the world after the Great Smoky Mountain in USA) selected for carrying out an All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory, ATBI. In the picture: olive trees and snow capped mountain in the same landscape, respective habitat of a mediterranean orchid and a white alpine hare (arctic origin).

SLIDE 4: STARTING PROJECTS, wildlife management Wildlife does not consider political boundaries! So the first cooperation projects were concerning wildlife management, especially of three “icon” animals. IBEX: The importance of checking ibex migrations across the borders and reaching common fauna management urged park’s managers to strengthen their collaboration through the exchange of data, common censuses and controls. The most significant initiative was Operation Ibex, that included the creation of two new groups, on both sides of the border, in areas that had not yet been colonized. It was at the origin of the first Twinning Agreement, signed on the 10th of July 1987. BEARDED VULTURE:The second operation concerns the reintroduction of the bearded vulture, the largest European bird, which disappeared from the Alps at the beginning of the XXth century. The project is coordinated by an International Foundation and is based on breeding in captivity and releasing in the wild of young birds. There are 4 releasing sites in the Alps: one is the transfrontier site Marittime/Mercantour. In fact, the international expert commission of this project particularly valued the large extension of the protected territory (100,000 hectares the two parks together), being this factor extremely important for the species. The release is taking place each year, alternatively in and , but the whole project is managed together. WOLF: It was totally extinct in France and in italian Marittime Alps since 1921. In the 70ies only some 40 wolves were surviving in central Italy (Parco d’Abruzzo). In 30 years they spread north and south. In winter 1993 there was the first sighting in Mercantour, followed in 1995 by colonisation of the italian side. An important project has been prepared by the two parks covering scientific research, damage compensation and an information campaign. The need for a common management is strong, because most of the packs territories cover both side of the frontier, as shown in the map.

SLIDE 5: THE STEPS OF COOPERATION The two parks have a common historical origin: indeed they were established by the respective authorities (Ministère de l’Environnement and Regione Piemonte) in the 80ies on the same territories of the old hunting reserve of the king of Italy Vittorio Emanuele II. The reserve was created in 1857 and covered the two sides of the Maritime Alps at that time belonging to Italy. At the occasion of the Ibex Operation, the first twinning agreement was signed in 1987, with the simple content of a general cooperation intention. In October 1993 Alpi Marittime and Mercantour Parks were awarded with the Council of Europe Diploma for the protection of nature: one of the reasons was the successful transfrontier co-operation. This is the only case in Europe of two transfrontier protected areas receiving the Diploma at the same time. In order to strengthen the cooperation and giving it a more structured framework, in 1998 it was decided to sign a Twinning Charter in the form of a more binding and defined document. It contains a special commitment to protect the common natural and cultural heritage and to use it as a mean for sustainable development, to favor bilingualism and reinforce the links between local communities, to create a real community of knowledge, to harmonize institutions and regulations. For the last reason, in 2001 a juridical comparison between the two public bodies that manage the two parks was carried out, together with a collection and translation into the two languages of all the laws concerning the two protected areas. A selection of possible common juridical management bodies was also made for the first time, such as GIP (Groupement d’Interet Publique), or, at European level, such as EEIG (European Economic Interest Grouping) and at international level, such as Transfrontier UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. But none of them was really suitable for our purpose. We were waiting for EGTC…

SLIDE 6: INTERREG, AN ESSENTIAL FINANCIAL TOOL For all activities, a good financial basis is essential. Only with the normal budget of the two parks, no cooperation activity would have been possible. All cooperation is financed with the EU Interreg Programme (Alcotra F/I). We made a good use of this financial instrument, from Interreg I (Bearded Vulture and Transfrontier guide) and II (Mountain without frontiers). For Interreg IIIA in 4 years 6 projects were presented and accepted for a total amount of 5 million €. New recent developments: considering that the Twinning Charter signed in 1998 was just a list of good intentions, but a little bit too general and needed to be translated into specific actions, in 2003 we begun to work on a more detailed and defined Common Action Plan for 5 years, financed with an Interreg project. The plan was drafted after discussion in working groups, involving all sectors of the local civil society. The Plan is articulated around 5 themes: for each of them 5 big projects have been identified. The action Plan was finally approved in 2006 by the Councils of the two parks and by the respective local communities. In action 1 “Making cooperation more formal and structured”, for the first time the creation of an EGTC was envisaged.

SLIDE 7: TOWARDS AN EGTC In fact the European regulation recently approved (EC No 1082/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006) and called European grouping of territorial cooperation (EGTC) is a juridical instrument that will allow us to create a common management structure: following an agreement signed between the different authorities, a specific working group has been established during 2007, with the task of creating a Marittime/Mercantour EGTC in practice. The draft texts for the Agreement and Statutes have already been prepared, but, as the national provisions have been approved in France and not in Italy, we are at a crucial point and have to decide if we go on and establish the EGTC with its seat in France following the French laws, or we have to wait for the Italian national provisions.

SLIDE 8: WHY AN EGTC? Why an EGTC is important for us? Just two practical examples. The first one is: the “Tranfrontier landscape restoration and management project of La Maddalena/Larche transfrontier mountain pass”. This is a large continuous area across the frontier, an evocative historical mountain road pass between France and Italy, at the western edge of the protected territory. The area needs environmental restoration (old customs building and ruins to be demolished, a parking area to be restored, an information point and facilities for visitors to be created…). There are already the required funds available via Interreg, but we need a single “Maitre d’oevre” to manage the public calls to contract and to carry on the works on both sides of the border. This would be a perfect task for an EGTC!

SLIDE 9: INTERREG IV A ALCOTRA PITT The second project is: The Integrated Territorial Tranfrontier Project (PITT). Interreg IV A Alcotra F/I gives the possibility to present at the same time up to 6 different thematic integrated projects, with a project leader involving several other territorial partners. We have already prepared a “manifestation of interest” consisting in 6 thematic interrelated subprojects, concerning nature management, cultural identity, territorial planning, environmental education, sustainable mobility and tourism. Just an example for the tourism project: a very new idea is the “Grand Tour”, a touristic circuit around the whole transfrontier area comprising the parks as a core, with walking itineraries in the most interesting places of the two parks. We intend to sell it to visitors as a “tourism package”. Now we have developed a common signposting system, which is already in place at the common passes, and it is gradually extended to all the transfrontier footpaths, and a transfrontier bilingual guide “Mountains without frontiers”. As all private and public stakeholder will be involved in the project, this will be a real example of local integrated sustainable development, in and around the parks. The PITT systems provides for one transversal management project, for general communication and coordination between all the subprojects and all the partners involved: we have decided to use the money from this project to create and run the EGTC, which will then be the ideal juridical instrument to carry on the various subprojects.

SLIDE 10: CONCLUSIONS So, if we will succeed in getting the PITT financed and in establishing our EGTC, not only our slogan “nature without frontier” will become reality, but, most of all, it will be possible to create, despite the national borders, one single community of people working together for the same purposes. We hope that this small contribution could help building the Europe of tomorrow.