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The Protected Area
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Identity Card
- Land Area (ha): 130.700,00
- Regions: Lombardia - Trentino Alto Adige
- Provinces: Bolzano/Bozen, Brescia, Sondrio, Trento
- Towns: Bormio, Glorenza, Laces, Lasa, Livigno, Malles Venosta, Martello, Peio, Pellizzano, Ponte di Legno, Prato Allo Stelvio, Rabbi, Silandro, Sondalo, Stelvio, Temù, Tubre, Ultimo, Valdidentro, Valdisotto, Valfurva, Vezza d'Oglio, Vione
- Establishing measures: LN 740 24/04/1935 - DPR 23.04.1977 - DPCM 26.11.1993 - DPR 07.07.2006
- PA Official list: EUAP0017
Park Authority: Consorzio del Parco Nazionale dello Stelvio |
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Features of the Protected Area
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Stelvio National Park covers an area of 130,700 hectares in the heart
of the Central Alps and includes the Ortles-Cevedale massif and its
lateral valleys. The idea to preserve this great alpine landscape dates
back to the beginning of the 20th century and was transformed in a law
in 1935. At the beginning, the Park covered an area of 96,000 hectares.
In 1977, it was enlarged to 134,600. In 2006, a Decree issued by the
President of the Republic fixed the new borders after parceling out
from its perimeter the areas of Val Venosta valley bottom,
characterized by a strong human pressure. The National Park there are
all the possible alpine formations: from high-mountain glaciers (Ortles -
3,905m), to mountain summer pastures and terraces, to the valley bottom
(Morter - 700m). Within the Park borders it is possible to admire
glaciers, mountain summer pastures, wide woodlands, cultivated lands,
mountain chalets where people dwell all year long, villages, and towns.
The Park landscape is also marked by the characteristic and harmonious
presence of both intact mountain areas and lands that have been
cultivated for centuries. The hydrogeological conditions make this
landscape unique: here glacial lakes and foaming mountain streams meet.
Ecosystems rich in flora and fauna exist thanks to the differences in
height and the morphological variety of the territory. However, as you
can easily imagine, various interests collide in the area: on the one
hand, the protection and maintenance of the natural area, on the other
hand, projects keeping the pace of progress and new technologies. The
tendency is to guarantee to the Park a sustainable development,
maintaining the quality and reproducibility of the natural resources,
the integrity of the ecosystem, and biological diversity, ensuring at
the same time wealth, as well as economic, social, and cultural
opportunities. |
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The Management
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Stelvio National Park was established with the law n. 740 of 24th April 1935. Its management was entrusted to Azienda di Stato per le Foreste Demaniali (State Forests Agency), while the surveillance and control of the territory to the National Forest Service.
Since 1974, the management has been entrusted to both the two autonomous provinces of Bolzano and Trento, under the condition that a consortium had to be created to guarantee a unitary management. After long and complex negotiations, the re-organization of the national park management was achieved.
Consorzio del Parco Nazionale dello Stelvio, unique in Italy, was created with DPCM of 26/11/1993 and has been working since 1995. It consists of four operative committees: the Board of Directors sets the standards concerning the unitary and co-ordinated management; three Management Commissions of the Regione Lombardia and of Autonomous Provinces of Trento and Bolzano, thanks to their respective detached offices, are in charge of the ordinary and extraordinary management. The surveillance and the control of the territory are entrusted to the National Forest Service in Lombardy and to the Provincial Forest Services of the provinces of Trento and Bolzano. |
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The Park Valleys
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Several valleys descend from the huge mountain massifs of Stelvio National Park: they
have been more or less settled by man, and shaped by the erosion
carried out by the glaciers of by the flows of the watercourses. Each
valley has unique features: for instance, Val Venosta alluvial cones
are among the most extended of the Alpine ridge; the long Val Martello,
whose initial part is dominated by the Cevedale peak; the valley of
Trafoi, dominated by the Ortles and by many peaks covered with ice. Val d'Ultimo is a green valley, rich in waters and lakes, like Val
del Rabbi that, along with Valle del Peio, is renown for its mineral
and curative waters. However, also in Valtellina, in Bormio and in
Valfurva, thermal waters have given birth to a very ancient tradition. Val Zebrù is famous for its deer, chamois, roe deer, and ibex populations, while Adda and Braulio Valleys develop in a context of overhanging calcareous walls and cliffs.
Across the most important valleys of the Park, ancient roads wind
along the itineraries followed by prehistoric hunters or by people
looking for minerals or transporting goods to exchange. For instance,
along the road from Bormio to Torri di Fraele, in the direction of
Engandina and the Tyrol, the important market-town of Glorenza was
built: its medieval walls are still well preserved.
Along
the ancient routes, villages and town districts have risen. The
colonization of the areas at higher altitudes and used as summer
mountain pastures started from these settlements in the 13th century. Summer mountain grazing was an essential activity to survive at
lower altitudes. Many of the "malghe", still used today, offer
hospitality to hikers. |
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Geology
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Tracing a simplified geological portrait of the area of Stelvio
National Park, we can say that this region is formed by two tectonic
units which slipped one over the other during the orogenetic movements
which originated the Alpine chain. This happened when the African
platform collided against the European one causing the thickening of
the earth's crust: as a matter of fact, the two continental margins
were pushed one against the other, and overlapped. For this reason, in
the park areas you will find a number of different rocks: most of them
are metamorphic, that is rocks of different origins which were
transformed deep in the earth by high pressures and temperatures; there
are also the Val Venosta schists, the phyllite gneiss, and the famous
marble from Lasa. The gneiss from Tonale has peculiar inserts like the
Val Cané marbles. Then there is a considerable belt of mica-schists
connecting Val di Rabbi and Val di Peio to Corno dei Tre Signori.
There are also rocks mainly consisting of limestone and dolomite rock,
laid upon the area made of schist, which form the imposing Ortles peak.
The same formations are present in the valley of the Zebrù, where the
stream has eroded its own bed along the fracture-line running between
the sedimentary and the metamorphic rocks forming the spurs of Mt.
Confinale.
In the park territory there are also some eruptive rocks, such as the
Sondalo Plutonic rock. The structure of the Serottini mountain group is
made by granite-diorites outcropping in the North of the Passo di
Cercen.
In some areas it is possible to find the quartz-phyllite, such as in
the area separating Val Martello from Val d'Ultimo and which includes
the Cevedale peaks. |
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Geomorphology
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During the Pleistocene (a recent geologic period going from 1,5 million
to 10,000 years ago) at least five large glaciations have greatly
contributed to shape the landscape. Enormous glaciers gave origin to
large strips of valleys reaching the plain; lake basins, huge morainic
systems and post-alluvial cones left behind U-shaped valleys when the
glacier withdrew. The Park's territory in Lombardy includes the largest
glacial area of the Central Alps; the glacier of Forni is the largest
one, with a surface of more than 13 square kilometers. The Passo dello
Stelvio area is formed by a spectacular series of glaciers, attracting
skiers and mountain climbers. Thanks to the combined action of ice and
water, numberless small alpine lakes of rare beauty have formed, while
melting waters are continuously transporting downhill huge quantities
of soil, sand, cobbles, and detritus. |
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Hydrology
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The heart of Stelvio National Park is mainly covered by huge glaciers
and snow-fields. This huge bulk of snow and ice is also a precious
water reserve flowing downhill and feeding springs, foaming streams,
apparently still small lakes, misty waterfalls. In Val Venosta, where
natural precipitations are scarce, melting waters are essential for
agriculture. Since the past centuries, irrigation canals, the
so-called "Waale", have conveyed precious water from the mountain tops
to the fields. Streams and rivers flowing down from the valleys of
Stelvio National Park reach their maximum flow of water in the hottest
summer months. Many of them have been trapped in artificial basins
providing water for hydroelectric purposes: these artificial basins represent now a characteristic feature of the landscape mosaic of Stelvio National Park, contributing to shape its environmental, ecological, and human setting.
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La fauna
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Many specimens of the alpine fauna live in all the sections of Stelvio National Park, except the great predators which became extinct because of man. We find herds of deer which prefer the thick woods and the roe deer, which live at their borders. At higher altitudes, we can see the chamois and in some valleys the wild goats have come back. The fox, the ermine, and the marmot cannot
miss; there are also many squirrels, hares, and less frequently we can
find badgers and weasels. If we look up among the branches of the
trees, or up to the sky, we will find a number of bird species, such as
the chough, the raven, and the crow. There are woodpeckers,
capercaillies, and hazel grouses. There are also some birds of prey: the buzzard, the sparrowhawk, and the owl. Various couples of golden eagles are nesting on breathtaking walls and now it is also possible to see
also the bearded vulture. It is necessary not to forget the inhabitants of
ponds and streams, and of course the insects contributing to complete
the food chain in the territory of the Park.
(all links lead to Italian texts)
Further information |
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Flora
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Nature-loving people can find in the park territory a number of arboreal and floral species beyond any possible expectation.
The
difference in height from the lowest point to the Ortles peak, together
with a large variety of soil conditions and particular
microclimates, allows the growth of different and rare botanical
species, such as a species of Ranunculaceae family, growing at more than 3,500 meters of height, or Soldanella pusilla, Linnea borealis, and Drosera rotundifolia.
From wetlands to detrital areas, from calcareous to siliceous soils,
each clod of the earth is covered by a various and colored flora which
catches the eye.
(the following links lead to Italian texts)
Further information |
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The Forest Ecosystems
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The considerable dimension of the Park and its many altitude strips
(from 650 metres to the almost 4,000 metres of the Ortles) allow the
presence of different and characteristic ecosystems: from the wet areas
covered by alder and birch woods to conifer forests growing at more
than 2,000 meters of height in any valley of the park.
The spruce
fir and the larch dominate indisputably almost any slope; there are
also the Swiss stone pine, the Scotch pine, and some rare silver fir.
These forests represent the ideal habitat for most of the animal
species present in the park; moreover, the woods are also important to
drain water and hold the ground, making thus human settlements safer at
high altitudes. People soon understood the importance of woodlands and
their management was encoded in the statutes and in the community rules
dating back to the Middle Ages. |
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The Cultural Landscape
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Long geomorphological processes have shaped peaks and valleys in this
wonderful protected area. However, in recent times the human presence
has also contributed to shape the natural landscape: deforestation was
used to create spaces suitable to pastures, the ground was tilled and
terraces were created to promote agriculture, the creation of villages,
of mule-tracks and roads, the exploitation of mines, and, in more
recent times, the creation of basins for hydroelectric purposes. The
valleys of the park have preserved everywhere traces of rural and
religious architecture, but also factories, saw-mills and mills, as
well as ancient buildings for the first tourists. A sort of
architectural archaeology is still alive and gently inserted in the
natural cultural landscape. |
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