The Nature Park Tiroler Lech participates in the cross-border project for Bearded Vulture monitoring in the region Bavaria - Tyrol. The aim is to establish a multi-layered network and the development of a permanent organizational model in order to record sightings of the bearded vulture more easily. The central monitoring structure will be installed on the Bavarian side, while in Tyrol the five nature parks will serve as important cooperating network nodes.  

The bearded vulture(Gypaetus barbatus) is the largest bird species in the Alps and was considered extinct since 1913. The Alpine Zoo in Innsbruck took on this problem and made great efforts to raise the bearded vulture in the 1980s - with complete success. In 1986 the Bearded Vulture could be reintroduced into the wild in the Hohe Tauern National Park. The first outdoor breeding was then observed for the first time in 1997. In the meantime, around 300 bearded vultures live in the Alps. However, around 500 animals are needed to enable the bearded vulture to settle permanently in the Alps, which is to be achieved through reintroduction initiatives. Experts believe it is entirely possible that the bearded vulture will be permanently reintroduced to the Austrian-Bavarian Alps. As a result, the Landesbund für Vogelschutz Bayern e.V. (LBV) as lead partner and all five Tyrolean nature parks (Tiroler Lech, Karwendel, Kaunergrat, Ötztal and Zillertal) as well as the state of Tyrol / Dept. of Environmental Protection as project partners are joining forces to bundle these reintroduction efforts across borders.

The project objective is to improve the biodiversity in the cooperation area in order to stop the loss of this highly endangered and therefore strictly protected bird species or to increase its spread. In the long term, a population size of more than 500 birds should settle and breed in the cross-border Alpine region.

Key data on the Interreg project "Evs52 Establishment of a cross-border bearded vulture monitoring Bavaria - Tyrol".

Short title: Bearded Vulture Monitoring Bavaria - Tyrol

Lead: Landesbund für Vogelschutz Bayern e.V. (LBV)

Project partners: Tiroler Lech Nature Park (PP2); Karwendel Nature Park (PP3); Kaunergrat Nature Park (PP4); Ötztal Nature Park (PP5); Zillertal Nature Park (PP6); Province of Tyrol / Abt- Umweltschutz (associated partner).

Project period: 01.01.2021 to 30.06.2022

Total planned costs: € 25,000

Approved funding: €18,750