Visitors centres of the Gran Paradiso National Park

The Visitor Center of the Gran Paradiso National Park of Cogne Laboratory Park presents the complex and dynamic evolution of the protected area as in a laboratory of experimentation: explanatory models, multimedia systems, interactive games and an original “sensory space” that offers visitors the opportunity to appreciate the scents of nature and hear the characteristic sounds of the woods.
The main idea revolves around the concept of land use and management, which is only possible by means of an in-depth knowledge of the environmental data.

The themes developed in the Cogne Visitor Center are:

• water: the models show the effects that water has on the territory, they illustrate some flood events and describe the interaction between human settlements and the hydrogeological aspects
• forest and pasture: a “multimedia” immersion into the life of the woodcutter and the simulation of important choices for the maintenance of the forest
• fauna and man: the manner in which man and animals interact.

The center also hosts two interesting thematic set-ups devoted to the wolf and to the ibex, respectively

The exhibition itinerary does not have an obligatory linear pathway: choose your own “path” according to your interests and to the level of in-depth study you wish to make.

Located inside the visitors centre of the Gran Paradiso Park in Chanavey, entering the village, with the Granta Parey in the background, the museum tells the history of an extinction, an ambitious project, the return, and perhaps a happy ending for Europe’s largest bird.

The bearded vulture, the lamb vulture, which disappeared from this valley at the turn of the last century and recently returned to spread its impressive wings over the valley skies, is the central theme of this space, where information, images, sounds and multimedia games, inform people about this spectacular animal, as well as about the bird fauna in the park.

In this visitor centre you can also live the ascent to the summit of Gran Paradiso in 360° virtual reality thanks to the multimedia station “Gran Paradiso VR- The experience of Nature”.

The Visitors Centre Water and Biodiversity in Rovenaud is dedicated to scientific research and environmental education about the preservation of watery ecosystems and of otters.

The centre, in a well-preserved ecosystem, hosts a nice exhibition and proposes visit routes inside and outside, with videos and aquaria in order to be truly ‘immersed’ in a part of the Park where everything is connected with water.

This section of the Park hosts some otters in partial freedom. Once this species was free and present here, but today it almost disappeared because of persecutions and environmental transformations made by men.

Otters, being at the top of the food chain, is the symbol of the problems linked to the preservation of watery environments.

Thus, the visit to the centre outlines the importance of preservation and of the balance between men and environment.

The visitor centre for lovers of the oldest Park in Italy is situated in Dégioz, near the splendid parish church. A meeting point for tourists, the small information centre also houses areas dedicated to two animals who seem to be repopulating this land: the lynx and the wolf.

The Lynx Museum
“It is dusk in the forest. As always, the survival instinct drives the search for food. The lynx’s senses are on alert, leaves camouflage it as it lies in waiting…”
Predators are territorial animals, furtive and curious. It is often difficult to encounter them. Only five carnivorous predators are present in the Gran Paradiso park: from the smallest to the largest these are the weasel, the stoat, the stone marten, the pine marten and the fox. Large predators, such as the wolf and the lynx, often unjustly accused of damage to man or domestic animal, were killed off in the past.
The exhibition shows images of the Park collected by the Associazione Professionale Guide Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso in association with the Fondation Grand Paradis.

The Wolf Space
Spazio Lupo is open to the public since August 2011 inside the Gran Paradiso National Park Visitor’s Centre at Valsavarenche. This documentation centre was created by the Gran Paradiso Foundation in collaboration with the Gran Paradiso National Park to gather and provide testimonials and documents about the presence of wolves in the Park.
This is a work in progress which will develop through time and to which visitors can offer their contributions and get more familiar with this predator which has once again begun living in North-western Italy and the valleys of the Gran Paradiso National Park.
The Spazio Lupo presents two wolves, interactive films featuring the presence of wolves in the Park, interviews and a selection of texts and websites where further information can be obtained. It is also possible to develop events for first-hand experiences and a special blog on the web.