Mountain tourism in danger: Raufusshners need your protection!

Mountain tourism in danger: Raufusshners need your protection!

Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Deutschland - Bergtourism is booming in the Alps. But with the increase in the number of visitors, there is also an increasing burden on the endangered brass chickens, including the Auerhuhn, the Birkhuhn and the Alpine Schnehuhn. In order to counteract this trend, the exciting Euregio project "Raufusshnner-awareness of mountain tourists" was recently launched, which is intended to help strengthen awareness of the protection of these unique species. lra-gap.de reports that the initiators, Daniela Feige and Mathilde Cuchet, as area supervisors of the district of Garmisch-Spartenkirchen act.

As part of the project, 50 mountain huts in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district and in the Karwendel Nature Park are actively involved in Austria. A nature -compatible handling of the mountains is propagated here. This is done by the distribution of beer covers, which not only show the illustrations of the brass chickens, but also provide important information on environmentally friendly behavior in the mountains. It is noteworthy that the beer lid holder from regional maple wood is produced in cooperation with the Werdenfels workshops.

unique habitats under pressure

The habitats of the rawnings are popular resorts that are under high pressure due to mountain tourism. Disorders, especially at twilight periods, affect the populations of these birds that are already back. This knowledge has prompted the project initiators to address the mountain tourists directly and to encourage them to be more conscious. This is also supported by the results of a pilot project, which was positively rated by hut owners in 2024.

In addition to the on -site consultations, special action days are also planned in the summer of 2025 in order to draw visitors' attention to the problems. A public lecture by Elena Weindel from the Bavarian State Office for the Environment will take place on July 24, 2025 in the Nature Park information center in Scharnitz and deal with the habitats of the Raufusshühner and necessary protective measures.

a common goal

The aim of the project is not only to draw attention to the dangers for the ravard chickens, but also to create greater awareness of the protection and appreciation of the alpine natural and cultural landscape. This is supported as part of the Interreg VI program between Austria and Bavaria, whereby the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district acts as a lead partner on the German side and the Karwendel Nature Park acts as an important partner on the Austrian side. The requested funds for the project amount to 6,044 euros, which are to be used for various measures to raise awareness euregio-zwk.org.

The challenges of climate change and also technical progress, such as the spread of e-bikes, are further stress factors for the ravard chickens, especially in high-raids. Due to public relations in social media and the press, the topic is to be brought into the awareness of a broad mass in order to ultimately give these unique residents of our Alps a chance of survival karwendel.org.