Journey to the Gran Paradiso National Park

TOreaching a hundred years with an eye to the future, celebrating a century of life with prizes and awards for a cutting-edge ecological policy: this is the milestone reached by Gran Paradiso National Park, the oldest in Italy having been born in 1922. His 71 thousand hectares of land include five valleys: two in Piedmont – Valle Soana and Valle Orco and three in Valle d’Aosta – Valsavarenche, Val di Rhêmes and Valle di Cogne.

To attract tourism are above all the two localities that are part of the Alpine Pearls, an elite European club; the two pearls are Cognewith the famous Prato di Sant’Orso, e Ceresole Realeoverlooking the lake of the same name in Valle Orco, where in 1890 the Nobel Prize for Literature Giosuè Carducci composed his famous one poetry Piedmont.

The animals of the Grand Paradiso

Beyond the well-known places, however, the Park has a lot to offer: a vast territory rich in woods, dotted with 183 lakes and populated by 6,500 chamois, 2,500 ibex (symbol of the Park), 21 pairs of golden eagles, 1700 plant species. Obviously this natural paradise attracts an increasing number of visitors – often families with children or teenagers – who can walking or trekking on 550 kilometers of trailsbut also participate in some of the many events scheduled this year (for the program: pngp.it/100 years).

One of the 2,500 ibexes of the Gran Paradiso National Park. (Getty Images)

One for all, the Rye festival on August 13 in Rhêmes Saint Georges. «2022 is giving the Gran Paradiso National Park various satisfactions. Like the presence in the prestigious Green List of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which collects the best of the world’s protected areas. And then the Green Travel Award that the Italian Tourist Press Group awarded us to the Bit of Milan, rewarding ours projects for environmental sustainability»Says the director of the Park, Bruno Bassano. “We are also verifying the possibility of a twinning between our Park and the famous Kruger National Park in South Africa: they proposed it to us, after visiting us”.

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Grand Paradiso, a sustainable park

Bassano then points out commitment to scientific research (15 researches are underway on animal species) but also on issues such as the sustainability of tourism; for this, for example, the Strada del Colle Nivolet, one of the most spectacular places in the park, it is closed to cars on summer weekends and in a few winter months, thanks to the “Walking in the clouds” project. Children’s sense of nature Tourism, however, brings some concern. “In Italy there is still a low environmental awareness: for example, there are those who annoy animals. And our park rangers, while doing an excellent job, can’t be everywhere. We must start with teaching childrento make the biophilia grow in them »explains Nicoletta Fedrighini, who deals with environmental education.

The Paradisia Alpine Botanical Garden, in Valnontey, Cogne. © Enzo Massa press office

But what is biophilia and why is it important? «Biofilìa means“ love for life ”and it is the instinctive affinity that the human being feels for nature, because that’s where we come from. It is a feeling that children know and reveal in the spontaneous relationship with animals and plants, and it must be valued through education. An ongoing research with the University of Aosta shows among other things that spending some time in nature is better than any sport in the gym, because it then allows the child a greater concentration and therefore a better school performance. In short, being in nature helps the mind and by raising children in this way we will have adults more aware of their link with the environment »continues Nicoletta Fedrighini.

Learning from otters

Penny Palmer / CWPA / Barcroft Images / IPA

For this purpose they are various structures in the park that can be used by the whole family. In Valsavarenche – the most secluded of the Park valleys, dedicated to ecotourism and mountaineering – there is the Water and Biodiversity Center of Rovenaud which in a wooded area rich in springs has created a real “world of water”. They are there suggestive green paths on walkways, free nature workshops for children and the opportunity for everyone to admire in its element a river mammal which is now very difficult to meet: the otter, which feeds on fish. Three otters are raised in the vast humid environment of the Center; a large window under the water allows visitors to appreciate these animals in all their elegance when they dart like underwater torpedoes.

A multisensory journey in the internal rooms also teaches how to recognize various animal species by the type of fur and the traces it leaves. The director of the Rovenaud Center is the scientific researcher Caterina Ferrari; she also happens to meet her in the high mountain meadows, where she studies another cute furry animal, the marmot. «The life cycles of the marmot are changing due to global warming; it is as if nature’s clock is going out of phase »observes Ferrari, shaking her head. Back at the bottom of the valley, the Sentiero del Lupo is a hiking-didactic path within everyone’s reach and allows you to meet chamois, foxes and squirrels.

Face to face with the Gran Paradiso

For those who aspire to enjoy the Massif of the Gran Paradiso (4,061 meters of altitude) there is a trekking which starts from Eaux Rousses, climbs through forests and magnificent viewpoints and stops in Orvieille, where there is one of the 51 ancient Royal Hunting Lodges of the Park, once used as shelters by the Savoy and the court, during hunting trips. In fact, this territory before becoming a national park was a Royal Hunting Reserve, where only the Savoy had the right to shoot ibex. The trek ends in beauty at 2,500 meters above sea level at the Djouan Lakes, surrounded by white peaks. The parallel Val di Rhêmes has also been well protected by the Park: forests only give way to traditional houses in jewel-like villages, primarily the capital Rhêmes Notre Dame.

The sanctuary of San Besso (2019 meters) in the Soana Valley. (Getty Images)

The classic walk – because it is suitable for everyone, including the elderly and children – starts from here to quickly arrive at the Pellaud Lakes, where the air is fresh and the water is emerald green due to the reflection of the trees that are reflected in it. An equally easy walk is that of Pian dell’Azaria in the Soana Valley, on the Piedmontese side of the Park; leaving the car in Campiglia Soana you can walk comfortably on the plateau up to the Mario Rigoni Stern Oasis. It is dedicated to the writer because when he was a young Alpine he defined this corner of the Val Soana as “the most beautiful in the world”. A large boulder next to a bench shows his love phrases: for the place, of course, but there is also a hint of “a teacher” who lived here. And the wind in the trees and boulders still whispers of their love.

Where to sleep at the Gran Paradiso

Locanda della Luna
Ronco Canavese (To) A young couple in love with the Soana Valley opened this seven-room inn with restaurant a year ago, with excellent traditional Piedmontese dishes. The double costs € 80. locandaluna.com

Chambres d’hôtes The Water Station
Soressamont – Introd (Aosta) A centuries-old house on the edge of a wood, renovated by Elena and Marco. Six rooms and an apartment for those seeking relaxation and beauty. Upon reservation you can have dinner and / or sauna. lastazionedellacqua.it

Where to eat

Le Barmé de l’Ours restaurant
Rhêmes-Saint-Georges (Aosta) Chef Irene Piovanelli uses local products with creativity. Try the whitefish in corn crust with celery and walnut pesto. lebarmedelours.metro.rest

Locanda dei Sognatori restaurant
Saint Pierre (Aosta) For those who love fontina fondue with black bread croutons and vegetables, or venison civet with polenta. [email protected]

What to buy

Visitor Center “Traditions and Biodiversity”
Ronco Canavese (To) Typical products certified by the quality mark of the Gran Paradiso Park: mocetta of the Soana Valley, meliga paste, Genepy. Made to order: handmade slippers and traditional embroidered shawls. [email protected]

Estrela Dairy in Berger
Rhêmes-Saint-Georges (Aosta) Raising cows to make high quality cheese and yogurt: this is the dream come true of a young couple of researchers, she from Brazil, he from Valle d’Aosta. [email protected]

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Gran Paradiso National Park. 100 years and a hundred more. (Franco Panini Publisher). Beautiful photo book.

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