Mercantour National Park
INTRODUCTION
The Mercantour National Park one of the nine national parks in France, is located on the departments of the Alpes-Maritimes and the Alpes de Haute-Provence.
It is more particularly known to be one of most wild of France, and one the most varied of as regards landscapes, with very marked contrasts : its very particular geographical location, to one hour of the Riviera, brings Mediterranean keys to these alpine mountains. It is there that the European wolf naturally made its return in France in 1992 from Italy.
HISTORY
In the middle of 19th, the area belonged to the "Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia". The sovereign, Vittorio-Emmanuel II, also called "King Hunting", was the first to be concerned with safeguard of these territories for reasons huntings. Indeed, manpower of chamois did not cease decreasing and the ibex had been completely exterminated. For these reason, the King decided to create on December 26th, 1859 a "Royale reserve of Hunting" on the solid masses of Mercantour and of Argentera.
At the time of the Treaty of Turin of March 24th, 1860, Napoleon III gave up the communes of Tends and Aspires to it and the north of the communes of Saint-Martin-Vésubie, Valdeblore, View-point and of Insulated. The delimitation fixed by the convention of application of March 17th, 1861 thus maintained under Italian sovereignty the southern slope of the solid mass which was going to form "Royal Huntings of the Crown of Italy". From 1900, Vittorio-Emmanuel III, who inherited the Kingdom of Italy, was at the origin of the reintroduction of 23 ibexes in the solid mass of Will silver plate-Mercantour. After 11 years of efforts of reintroduction of 1921 to 1932, some individuals were able to survive and to reproduce.
November 29th, 1935, the Commission of the Reserves of the National company of Acclimatization of France (ancestor of the current National company of Protection of nature) adopted the payment of the Reserve of Lauzanier. The purpose of the payment was to protect fauna and the flora, to develop the taste and the respect of nature and to facilitate research and practices from it referring to nature. The reserve was especially famous for its flora. New species of insects, and in particular of beetles, had been discovered there, and the wildcat was announced.
When Mussolini declared the war in France in June 1940, the chamois, protected during more than 80 years abounded on these solid masses. At the end of the war, the population of chamois of the solid mass was reduced to approximately 300 individuals and the ibexes with less than 50 following massive destruction on the part of the soldiers and local populations. February 10th, 1947 was signed the peace treaty between the Allies and Italy. The Mediterranean slope of the solid mass of Will silver plate-Mercantour (common Tends and Aspires to it and territories referred to above) was restored at the French State. The situation of game worsened since this territory was left of 1945 to 1953 without any monitoring and from many animals were eliminated by the poaching.
The "hunting preserve of Boréon", of a surface of 3 500 ha on the only commune of Saint-Martin-Vésubie, was instituted on July 30th, 1947. As of on March 5th, 1947, the creation of a national park of 9 800 ha was recommended. Its size was considerably reduced on the request of the hunters, with the reason which the Italian poachers could too easily benefit from the effort of French protection. In 1949, the Italian authorities created in their turn on the septentrional side of the solid mass of Mercantour a vast hunting preserve of more than 20 000 ha, the "Reserve of Valdieri-Entracque".
June 1st, 1950, the "Hunting preserve of Boréon" was replaced by the "Hunting preserve of national interest of Mercantour" adding up a surface of 9 600 ha whose management was entrusted to the Departmental federation of the Hunters of the Alpes-Maritimes under the control of the Forestry Commission and the Superior council of Hunting. July 22nd, 1959 of new territories were added to the reserve making him reach a surface of 11 200 ha. August 14th, 1964 the reserve was still increased to be reduced to 11 300 ha the 29 octoble 1976.
August 18th, 1979, the bearing decree creation of the national park of Mercantour (decree n° 79-696 of August 18th, 1979) was signed by the Prime Minister Raymond Barre and eleven of her ministers and was published in the Official journal on August 21st, 1979. It was the 6th French national park. Its gestation had lasted 33 years if one refers to the first instrument, the motion taken by the General advice of the Alpes-Maritimes on November 20th, 1946.
FLORA OF THE PARK
Because of variety of the ground and climate (influenced by the junction of the Alps and the Mediterranean), the park has more than 2&nbqp;000 species of plants including more than 40 endemic, such of the saxifragas, the orchids. Populating the slopes, leafy trees (pubescent oak, woodland pine, holm oak) and coniferous tree (fir tree, spruce, then larch and pine cembro) follow one another the wire of altitude up to 2 200 meters.
On the few 150 species of orchids known in France, 63 were listed on the territory of the National park of Mercantour, at the time of a systematic prospection on the ground.
FAUNE OF THE PARK
One right now counted there several hundreds of species of animals (some are present since the end of the glaciations) including in particular 197 species the vertebrate ones on the territory of which 53 are threatened. Thanks to the action of the National park, these animals which, for some, failed to disappear, attend the mountains of Mercantour again. Protected by the statutes from the Park, stags, wild boars, roe deer, chamois (more than 8 000 individuals), ibexes (1 100 individuals), mouflons thrive.
Mammals :
On the 101 species of French terrestrial mammals, an about sixty traverses the solid mass of Mercantour. The chamois, the ibex, the marmot, the mountain hare and the stoat are some examples.
The European wolf, very difficult to observe because of its fear of the man, carried out a natural return in the area after 70 years of absence. The fox, or of the species of bat such as the European Free-tailed Bat and the Northern Bat can also be observed in the mountainous solid masses of Mercantour.
Birds :
The Mercantour national park does not shelter less than 155 species of birds nichor, migrating and occasional. Among these many unquestionable birds particularly draw the attention like the bearded vulture or the black grouse !
The amateurs of the avifauna will be able to thus observe the diurnal birds of prey such as the peregrine falcon, the golden eagle as well as the vulture recently reintroduced in the park. Among the galliformes, the black grouse, equipped with sumptuous delivered black and a tail in the shape with quadrant, give him an undeniable elegance in the middle of the larches. Unfortunately, like the partridge rock partridge, the population is in regression in spite of the installation of protection measures.
Reptiles and amphibians :
The species of reptiles and Amphibians present in the solid mass of Mercantour are 25. Its originality is that it has the appearance of a territory border, where are neighborly boreal and Mediterranean species. If the green whip snake and the common frog colonize the whole of the solid mass, certain species are confined with its septentrional part : it is the case of the sand lizard, which climbs up to 2 300 Mr.
Among the Amphibians, the rare and endemic french cave salamander, meets of Bévéra in low Tinée in the wet and fresh places. As for the Alpine newt, disappeared from the lakes of altitude since five decades, it should be the subject of a project of reintroduction. Animals difficult to observe but so attractive.
Insects :
One counts approximately 10 000 species of insects in the park of Mercantour. This diversity results not only by one abundance of the populations, but also in a high endemism which is explained by the biogeographic context. The inventories in progress confirm this diversity : besides the butterfly Phoebus Apollo, with the stained white wings of red and black, 232 species of butterflies were listed in the high valley of the Verdon.
EXTERNAL LINKS
http://www.saint-martin-vesubie.com
