From old beech forests
and ancient beech trees

The Kalkalpen National Park celebrates World Heritage Day on 18.04.2024 together with all World Heritage Sites. Two days later on Saturday, April 20, Kalkalpen National Park invites interested parties to a FREE beech forest tour.

Before humans settled in Europe, four-fifths of the continent was covered in forest, predominantly beech forests, which can only be found in Europe. Today, only small remnants of these former primeval beech forests remain. Together with old, near-natural beech forests, they form a World Heritage Site spread across twelve European countries. In Austria, the beech forests in Kalkalpen National Park and the Dürrenstein-Lassingtal wilderness area are among them.

The 21,800-hectare national park is home to 5,250 hectares of beech and mixed beech forests. These include a number of smaller but very valuable primeval forest areas. These include ancient beech trees and the oldest beech tree in the Alps, which is 550 years old. In these

The red-necked dusky beetle, one of the rarest primeval forest beetles, was found in the original populations. This is the first large population in the Eastern Alps. The next known population is located in a primeval forest, in the Białowieża National Park, a cross-border protected area between Poland and Belarus.

"The fact that we have been awarded the title of "UNESCO World Heritage Site" is no coincidence, but a recognition of the fact that we protect animal and plant species of European and global importance at Kalkalpen National Park . But it is also a mandate for us to do everything we can to ensure that these forests are protected in the long term," says National Park Director Josef Forstinger.  

If you would like to take part in the free guided Buchenwald tour on Saturday, April 20, you can register online.

Further information and registration: Ennstal Visitor Center, info-ennstal@kalkalpen.at, phone + 43 7254 8414-0