The
Paneveggio - Pale di San Martino Natural Park was established in 1967 to preserve and enhance the beauty of highly heterogeneous environments, and extends over an area of nearly 200 sq km. The
Pale di San Martino, the
forest of Paneveggio,
the Lagorai chain, areas that are among the
Special Protection Areas within the European network Natura 2000. Here nature does not mean the absence of humans, but a perfect balance between man and nature, between rural activities like mountain pasturing and wood hauling, which harmoniously blend with tourist activities.
To achieve an harmony between the need for conservation and a rational use of resources, the Park is divided into
natural reserves, from strict high-value ones such as the Pale di San Martino, the area of
Colbricon and Castellazzo, to the guided ones, where agricultural, silvicultural and pastoral activities are permitted in their traditional forms:
Val Canali, Calaita, Paneveggio, Valsorda. Then there are monitored reserves which have a higher anthropic presence and include ski lifts and ski slopes, special wildlife reserves where scientific research aimed at a better knowledge of the species is carried out, and special forest reserves in which the forest is left to its natural evolution for ecological research purposes.