With an area of approx. 250 thousand km and peaks that rise beyond 4000 metres, the Alps are Europe's major mountain chain. As part of this system, with an area of approx. 10 thousand km, the Dolomites, with their hundreds of rocky peaks, are the major limestone massif of the entire continent.
Since the early-20th century, for the purpose of protecting the Alps from over-exploitation, 13 national parks, 61 regional parks and 260 nature reserves have been set up with surface areas exceeding 100 hectares. Within the area of the Dolomites, there are 8 regional parks and one national park, which altogether cover about a quarter of the entire Dolomite area and thus represent a network of protected areas among the largest and most differentiated of the entire Alps.
In order to share the main purposes for their having been established, meaning the protection of the alpine habitat and plant and animal species, the valorisation of ethnic-cultural heritages and popularisation through visitors, the parks have been organised into the Network of Protected Alpine Areas. Other aims of the Network are to share protection and sustainable development experiences experimented in the various alpine valleys and try and exercise a cultural influence beyond their juridical borders, especially by conveying an example of environmental protection on an alpine and European scale.

The Network of Protected Alpine Areas operates along 4 priority lines:
• Protection and management of the protected areas of the Alps and of their natural resources, habitats and species.
• Development of a type of tourism compatible with preservation of this heritage and territorial economic projects.
• Support of mountain agriculture and syvilculture in order to protect biodiversity.
• Promotion of awareness, information and training of the general public and of local populations on the natural and cultural wealth of the Alps, as well as on the importance of preservation and measures already taken.

Information and addresses of protected areas on website: www.alparc.org