Hohe Tauern National Park () is a national park in Austria. It stretches for along the Hohe Tauern mountain range and is owned by the Austrian Alpine Club. With an area of about , it is by far the largest of Austria's seven national parks as well as the largest nature reserve in the Alps.The largest nature reserve of the Alps ... at http://www.hohetauern.at. Accessed on 10 Jul 2011. It is divided into a core zone of including the Grossglockner and Grossvenediger massifs, with complete prohibition of agricultural use, and a fringe zone of used for forestry and alpine-meadow farming. Five special nature sanctuaries are protected from any human disturbance.
The park of the IUCN II category comprises the Pasterze and numerous further glaciers, the Krimml Waterfalls, several glacial valleys and alluvial fans, as well as extended tundra areas and forests.
History The park was established according to a 1971 declaration signed by the participating states at Heiligenblut, it nevertheless took until 1981, when the first parts around Großglockner and Hochschober in Carinthia were put under protection. The adjacent parts finally joined in 1992. Tourism has become less harmful to the environment. A particular emphasis is put on the protection and maintenance of traditional ways of life in the Alps.
Flora and Fauna Among the flora of the Alps, especially Swiss Pines grow along the tree line; above subshrub, mainly alpenrose but also the endemic Saxifraga rudolphiana, up to nival level at about 2,800 m (9,200 ft). The fauna includes chamois, Alpine ibex and red deer, as well as griffon vulture and the golden eagle. The formerly extinct bearded vulture and the Alpine marmot have been successfully reintroduced.
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