Austria’s Great Wilderness
Austria’s only Wilderness Area (according to international standards by IUCN) at Mount Duerrenstein in southern Lower Austria could be enlarged by another 5600 ha in the neighbouring province Styria.
The application process has been started in 2015. The area is owned by the state and managed by Austria’s State Forestry „Österreichische Bundesforste“.
The 3500 ha Wilderness Reserve Duerrenstein hosts the remarkable Rothwald virgin forest, the biggest remain of untouched woodland in the Alps and in Central Europe. Rothwald is a strict reserve (IUCN category I) and is closed for visitors. But there are some marked trails in the rest of the reserve and the protected area’s management offers guided tours into the wilderness around Mount Duerrenstein.
Parts of the Wilderness Reserve Duerrenstein are currently nominated to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site (European Primeval Beech Forest Programme).
I was in the proposed enlargement section and had a look…
A feature story and images can be obtained via ASAblanca Agency.
