14 2 5 3 Alpine Nature 2030 Creating ecological connectivity for generations to come 201 How to achieve positive developments Numerous protected areas and Natura 2000 sites as well as biotopes and other precious natural spaces have a high potential for connectivity These areas are mostly situated in decentralised areas of the Alps They are under less pressure than areas close to im portant urban centres and constitute important non fragmented areas for biodiversity conservation and ecological connectivity between the different protected areas and biotopes Needs in the coming years It will be crucial to make sure that nature protection policies in protected areas are not weakened dur ing the next years due to ever increasing economic pressure Tendencies toward such a development can already be observed today This is sometimes due to impacts and pressures and due to uncontrollable ex ternal factors passive factors such as those induced by climate change for example extension of ski resorts to higher altitudinal levels often into fragile natural habitats in order to provide skiing opportunities for the next decades Furthermore the political legitimisation for the con servation or creation of protected areas increasingly employs arguments based on ecosystem services and economic bene t These developments are in contra diction to the concept and philosophy of an intrinsic value of nature which was painstakingly built up dur ing the last decades but remains fragile Beside technical and scienti c procedures and meas ures in place it is probably this aspect that is the most important to consider during the next years ensuring that nature protection is valued as the essential basis of all human life Today the opportunity to save or to restore the last large Alpine connectivity areas through a coherent policy establishing links between important habitats protected areas and more still exists but a common vision on how to achieve this goal is needed see next article This is a unique chance that the Alpine deci sion makers need to implement now Actions and measures employed To achieve these Potential connectivity areas it is necessary to act now The following crucial steps can ensure the creation and protection of these large con nected areas and could showcase the Alps as a role model in modern nature protection Identify potential connectivity areas Several potential areas in the Alps already exist and can facilitate large scale territories with a low frag mentation index These areas need to be identi ed through adapted tools JECAMI expert knowledge and site visits involving all the relevant stakeholders As in other SACA categories it is especially important to involve areas at all altitudinal levels Map 19 shows protected areas and NATURA 2000 sites at all altitu dinal levels as important elements for connectivity often overlapped but also able to create links between each other Map 20 shows that most of the de ned 5 5 3 Connectivity scenarios for areas with a high potential of connectivity Ecological Potential Areas The Alps still have a high number of large non frag mented spaces but these are mostly not suf ciently valorised Indeed numerous protected areas Natura 2000 sites and other precious biotopes and natural spaces are isolated from each other With an active ap proach in identifying links and measures to create even larger non fragmented spaces the Alps could become one of the model regions of Europe for a functioning sustainable biodiversity conservation strategy The southern parts of the French Alps still shelter a number of large spaces showing a low degree of fragmentation

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