Natura Trails: Experiencing Europes Nature Sanctuaries
Natura Trails became a pilot project in 2004 through Naturfreunde Internationale (NFI) and Naturfreunden Österreich and is since 2006 in cooperation with the Österreichischen Bundesforste AG. It has now become one of Europe’s foremost trademark for nature and environmentally correct leisure time.
Special trails through Nature
The Austrian Natura Trail network in the meantime consists of 22 Natura Trails which lead though diverse protected areas such as Europaschutz and Natura 2000 areas, protected areas and biosphere parks. They have as a common theme the protection of valuable nature in cooperation with the needs of the population and sustainable utilization.
Multimedia DirectoryFolders and information signs sparingly placed throughout the trails serve as pointers along the trail, they inform about the characteristics about the indigenous animals and plants within the region, show the biological diversity and invite one to explore areas. A web based Geocoaching-Tool: www.naturatrails.net/geocoaching assists you by allowing you to down load GPS-Data and additional information about Natura Trails.
Natura Trails International: from the Bohemian forests to the delta of the Danube
There are already many Natura Trails existing in Germany, whilst the first Rumanian Natura Trail in the delta of the Danube was opened in June 2009 during the World Environment Day. The first cross border Natura Trail “Bohemian Forests/Sumava” is leading through 3 countries: Austria, Germany, Czech Republic. They inform in German and in Czech Language about the specialties about this large forested area.
An award through the UNESCO Commission
The Natura Trail Project received an award on 19th June 2008 through the German UNESCO Commission as an official Decade Project, part of the “Sustainable Education” project of the UNESCO. The strong regional cooperation was especially singled out as a remarkable feat. More information: www.unesco.at There is as well a new Geocoaching Platform – there you find all tours on a map, GPS data, difficulty factor and length of time needed (from 1-2 hours to all day long tours).More information and brochures can be obtained for free through:NFI - Naturfreunde Internationale
A-1150 Wien, Diefenbachgasse 36 / Top 9Tel: +43-1-8923877-24
Fax: +43-1-8129789
anita.pinter@nf-int.org
