Habitats

Noah's Ark for native animals and plants

Habitat Kalkalpen National Park

Our native animals and plants find the habitat they need in gorges, mountain forests, on alpine pastures and up into the rocky regions. The lynx has returned to its old home. The numerous primeval forest species are also remarkable. They are indicators of the high quality of their habitat, as they need near-natural forests with sufficient old and dead wood. The ancient beech forests in the national park have been Austria's first UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site since 2017, a high accolade for the protected area. Especially in an age of rapid species extinction, including in Austria, Kalkalpen National Park is a Noah's Ark for the local flora and fauna.

Tree fungi grow from the trunk of a beech tree — Fruiting body of beech slimy rhubarb ©HerfriedMarek

Beech trees stand on a steep grassy hillside, their trunks growing slightly bent out of the ground. Between them lies broken dead wood on the ground. — Primeval beech forest ©AndreasMayr

Heart of the protected area

Old beech forests

Primeval beech forests, as well as near-natural old beech stands, have become rare in Europe. The old beech forests and primeval beech forests of Kalkalpen National Park have been a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site since 2017.

World Heritage Beech Forests

Spring water emerges from a crevice and flows into a mountain stream — Spring outlet of the Goldloch spring ©HerfriedMarek

Life givers and living spaces

Springs and streams

Water flows through the National Park area in countless veins. The Reichraminger Hintergebirge is home to dolomite gorges and mountain streams with more than 800 springs, which together form the longest intact stream ecosystem in the Eastern Alps.

Water bodies and wetland habitats

Hazy beech forest with deadwood — Primeval beech forest ©ErichMayrhofer

Treasure of the Kalkalpen National Park

The wild forest

There are still near-natural forests in the national park. They are the nuclei of a contiguous natural forest of tomorrow. Trees are allowed to grow, grow old and die as nature intended.

Ancient forests and primeval forests

Species-rich cultural landscapes

Alpine pastures

Mowed meadows and alpine pastures are like islands in a sea of forest. They provide a habitat for a variety of plants and animals that need the open landscape.

Alpine pastures and meadows

View from Hochsengs over western Sengsengebirge, Totes Gebirge in the background — Mountain pines on the Hochsengs ©HerfriedMarek

Habitat for specialists

Alpine Region

The isolated nature of alpine habitats is home to many endemic species that only occur in these areas. They have adapted to the specific conditions over the course of time.

Rock habitat

Beech tree with gnarled trunk stands in rocky forest terrain — Oldest beech tree in the Alps ©ChristianFuxjäger

Hidden treasures

Natural phenomena

There are many fascinating natural phenomena to discover at Kalkalpen National Park . For example, the oldest known beech tree in the Alps grows in a primeval forest remnant in the Sengsengebirge.

Natural phenomena