Location: Trentino-Alto Adige/ Südtirol and Lombardia Map
Area: 133,325 ha
Official site
The Stelvio National Park (Nationalpark Stilfser Joch in German) is one of the oldest Italian natural parks, established in 1935, born with the aim of protecting the flora, fauna and naturalistic beauties of the Ortles-Cevedale mountain group, and to promote the sustainable tourism development in the Alpine valleys of Lombardy, Trentino and Alto Adige. It extends over the territory of 24 municipalities and 4 provinces and is in direct contact to the north with the Swiss National Park, to the south with the Adamello-Brenta provincial natural park and the Adamello regional park: all these parks, together, constitute one huge protected area in the heart of the Alps, covering almost 400,000 hectares.
The park was formally instituted by Law No. 740 of 24 April 1935
(“Costituzione del Parco Nazionale dello Stelvio”), published in the
Gazzetta Ufficiale del Regno d’Italia on 3 June 1935. The law’s explicit
goals were to protect and improve the flora, boost the fauna, conserve
geological features and landscapes, and promote tourism and sustainable
development in the Alpine valleys. Initially, the protected area was
smaller (around 95,000 hectares). Management was assigned to the State
Agency for Demanial Forests (Azienda di Stato per le Foreste Demaniali)
and the State Forestry Corps (Corpo Forestale dello Stato).
Early
implementation faced challenges: years of difficult planning and scarce
state funding delayed full operations. Despite this, the park quickly
became a cornerstone of alpine conservation in Italy.
Post-War
Expansion and Management Evolution (1970s–1990s)
In 1977,
Presidential Decree (DPR 23.04.1977) significantly expanded the
boundaries to the current ~130,734–135,000 hectares, incorporating more
valleys and high peaks. Additional regulations followed: DPCM 26.11.1993
and DPR 7.07.2006, which refined governance and protections.
By the
1990s, the park’s multi-jurisdictional nature (spanning autonomous
provinces with special statutes and ordinary regions) led to
administrative reforms. In 1995, a consortium (Consorzio) was
established between the Italian State, Regione Lombardia, Provincia
Autonoma di Trento, and Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano. This body aimed
to ensure unitary management while respecting local traditions,
involving input from municipalities and environmental groups.
Headquarters were centralized in Bormio (Sondrio province), with visitor
centers distributed across the provinces. Three regional management
committees reported to a directive council that initially included
scientific and environmental representatives.
21st-Century
Reforms, Controversies, and Decentralization (2009–Present)
Management changes intensified in the late 2000s amid Italy’s
decentralization push and regional autonomy debates. In 2009, an
agreement (via the Commissione dei 12) transferred operational control
more fully to Lombardy, Trento, and Bolzano, creating a new direction
committee (7 members, including municipal and ministerial
representatives) that notably excluded scientific-environmental figures.
This sparked political controversy: critics (including Legambiente)
feared weakened protections, potential increases in hunting, forest
roads, ski infrastructure, and building speculation—especially in South
Tyrol. Accusations of political horse-trading (involving the Südtiroler
Volkspartei and the Berlusconi government) circulated, and Environment
Minister Stefania Prestigiacomo briefly resigned in protest. Parliament
ratified the changes in 2010, but President Giorgio Napolitano withheld
signature in 2011, referring the matter back. Further proposals to
“dismantle” elements appeared in 2014.
The consortium was ultimately
abolished with Legislative Decree No. 14 of 13 January 2016 (effective
late February 2016). Administrative functions were fully decentralized
to the Autonomous Provinces of Trento and Bolzano and to Regione
Lombardia (which manages its portion via Ersaf—Regional Agency for
Agriculture and Forests). A Coordination and Guidance Committee now
maintains the park’s unitary character. Vigilance is handled by the
Carabinieri Parks Unit (Lombardy) and provincial forestry corps. The
park remains classified as an IUCN Category II protected area and
includes Natura 2000 sites (SIC and ZPS).
Legacy, Conservation,
and Contemporary Significance
Over 90 years (celebrated in 2025), the
park has evolved from a state-managed reserve into a model of
multi-stakeholder alpine conservation, balancing strict protection with
sustainable tourism, research, and cultural preservation. It has
supported species recovery (e.g., bearded vulture reintroduction) and
serves as a living laboratory for high-mountain ecology amid climate
change. WWI heritage trails and museums (e.g., Carlo Donegani exhibition
at the pass) integrate historical education with outdoor recreation.
Challenges persist—climate-driven glacier retreat, tourism pressure, and
balancing local economic needs—but the park continues to exemplify
Italy’s commitment to protecting its alpine heartland while fostering
responsible development.
Stelvio National Park (Parco Nazionale dello Stelvio) is one of
Italy’s largest and oldest national parks, established in 1935 to
protect the flora, fauna, and dramatic high-mountain landscapes of the
Ortler-Cevedale (Ortles-Cevedale) massif in the heart of the Central
Alps (specifically the Rhaetian Alps).
It spans approximately 130,734
hectares (1,307 km²) — making it the fourth-largest national park in
Italy and one of the biggest in the entire Alpine range — and lies
across two regions and four provinces: Lombardy (provinces of Sondrio
and Brescia) to the west/southwest and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol
(provinces of Trento and Bolzano/South Tyrol) to the east. The park
encompasses territory in 24 municipalities and forms part of a much
larger protected Alpine corridor of nearly 400,000 hectares when
combined with the adjacent Swiss National Park (to the northwest) and
the Adamello-Brenta and Adamello parks (to the south).
Geographic
coordinates center around approximately 46°30′N 10°35′E. The park’s
striking altitudinal gradient — from roughly 650–690 m above sea level
in the lower valley floors to 3,905 m at the summit of Ortler (Ortles),
the highest peak in the Eastern Alps outside the Bernina group — creates
a compressed vertical sequence of every major Alpine ecosystem and
landform within a relatively compact area. About 75% of the park lies
above 2,000 m, with the upper zones dominated by ice, rock, and scree.
Orography and Major Mountain Features
The park is centered on the
Ortler-Cevedale massif, a compact, glaciated amphitheater of peaks that
acts as a major watershed divide between the Lombard and Trentino-Alto
Adige sides. The main ridge begins at the famous Stelvio Pass (2,758 m)
— the second-highest paved mountain pass in Europe — and rises sharply
to numerous summits exceeding 3,500 m.
Key peaks include:
Ortler/Ortles (3,905 m) — the highest point.
Gran Zebrù/Königspitze
(3,857 m or ~3,851 m).
Monte Cevedale (3,769 m).
Palon de la Mare
(3,703 m).
Monte Zebrù (3,735 m).
Punta San Matteo (3,678 m), and
many others such as Punta Thurwieser, Vioz, Tresero, and Cima Solda.
Secondary ridges radiate outward, compartmentalizing the park into
distinct valleys. The topography is naturally segmented by glaciated,
craggy ridges. In the northwest (near the Swiss border), sedimentary
rocks (mainly dolomite) appear, while the core massif consists
predominantly of metamorphic rocks (gneiss, phyllite, schists, mica
schists) with some igneous intrusions (granite) and localized carbonate
sedimentary rocks (dolomite and limestone) on prominent peaks like
Ortler, Königspitze, and Zebrù.
Geomorphology: Glacial Legacy
The landscape was profoundly sculpted during the Pleistocene epoch
(roughly 1.5 million to 10,000 years ago) by at least five major
glaciations. Massive ice tongues carved classic U-shaped valleys,
cirques, hanging valleys, and overdeepened basins. As the glaciers
retreated, they left behind extensive moraines, alluvial fans, debris
cones, talus/scree slopes, and hollows that filled with meltwater to
form lakes.
Today, the park still hosts over 130 glaciers (the
largest concentration in the Central Alps outside a few other massifs),
creating a stark, high-alpine character above ~2,800–3,000 m with
perpetual snowfields, rock walls, and morainal debris. Glacial and
fluvial erosion continues to shape the terrain, transporting sediment
downslope and maintaining dynamic valley floors.
Valleys
The
park includes numerous lateral valleys branching from the central
massif, each with distinctive morphology:
Lombardy (west/southwest):
More complex topography with Valle dei Forni, Val Zebrù, Val Cedec,
Valle di Fraele (with large artificial lakes), Val di Gavia,
Valdidentro, Valdisotto, and Valfurva. These feature broad glacial
troughs and impressive scree accumulations.
Trentino (south): Val di
Peio and Val di Rabbi (and their side valleys such as Val del Monte, Val
de la Mare, Val Cércen, Val di Saènt). These are narrower, deeply
incised glacial valleys rich in streams and waterfalls.
South Tyrol
(east/northeast): Val Venosta (with upper Solda/Trafoi and Martello
valleys), Val d’Ultimo/Ulten Valley. These include the elongated
Martello Valley dominated by Cevedale and the Trafoi Valley at the foot
of Ortler.
Many valleys show a harmonious blend of natural
glacial forms and centuries of human modification (terraces, pastures,
irrigation channels called Waale in South Tyrol).
Hydrography and
Glaciology
A central high-elevation zone of more than 10,000 ha of
eternal snow and ice serves as the park’s primary “water tower.” Glacial
melt feeds an intricate network of torrents, streams, waterfalls, and
rivers that peak in flow during the warm summer months.
Notable
glaciers include the Forni Glacier (the largest valley glacier in the
Italian Alps, ~12 km², located in the Lombardy section), as well as
those on Ortler, Cevedale, Gran Zebrù, Vioz, Careser, and Sforzellina.
Major watercourses include the Frodolfo, Cedec, Zebrù, Braulio, Trafoi,
Solda, Plima, Noce, and Rabbies. Lakes range from small glacial tarns to
larger ones such as the artificial Laghi di Cancano (Fraele), Lago del
Careser, Lago di Pian Palù, Lago di Gioveretto, Lago di Zoccolo, and
Lago Covel.
In drier areas like parts of Val Venosta, glacial
meltwater is critical for agriculture and has been channeled for
centuries. Several reservoirs also support hydroelectric power.
Overall Landscape Character
Stelvio National Park showcases the full
spectrum of Alpine environments within a single protected area: from
cultivated valley bottoms and coniferous/larch forests, through
subalpine meadows and pastures, to alpine tundra, scree slopes, rock
faces, and finally the nival/glacial zone. The combination of extreme
relief, active glaciation, and fluvial processes produces a dynamic,
visually spectacular landscape of towering peaks, deep U-shaped valleys,
cascading waterfalls, turquoise lakes, and vast morainal deposits.
Climate change is visibly reducing the glaciers, but the park remains
one of the most intact and representative high-Alpine regions in Europe.
In the altitude range from 1000 to 2000 meters, the park
environment is dominated by coniferous forests. The most common species
is certainly the spruce (Picea abies), which is associated with a few
isolated groups of silver fir (Abies alba), the latter present mainly in
Val di Rabbi, the Trentino area of the Park. These formations of trees
go up the slopes, thinning out towards the upper limit to slowly give
way to the larch (Larix decidua) and the Swiss stone pine (Pinus
cembra), widespread mainly in the Val di Peio.
The band of dwarf
shrubs follows the coniferous woods, which rises above the vegetation
line (about 2600 meters). After 2800 meters there are rocks, scree,
perennial snows and glacial moraines, where the presence of life forms
is guaranteed only by some tenacious and highly specialized pioneer
species such as lichens.
Inside the Park there are also
particular environments such as peat bogs: wetlands characterized by
highly specialized flora such as Drosera rotundifolia and Pinguicula
alpina, small carnivorous plants, which compensate for the lack of
nitrogen in the soil by capturing small insects, or the rare Paludella
squarrosa, a bryophyte with circumpolar-arctic distribution, present in
a few stations in the Alps between Lombardy and Trentino-Alto Adige.
The park includes a wide variety of morphological and
ecosystems, with large differences in height (from 650 m a.s.l. to 3900
m a.s.l. of the glacier peaks). You can find deer, chamois, roe deer,
ibex, marmots, foxes, stoats, squirrels, hares, badgers and weasels.
There have been sightings of wolves, lynxes and even bears, coming from
the nearby Adamello Brenta Natural Park.
Numerous species of
birds nest in the park area: ptarmigan, rock partridge, alpine chough,
imperial crow, jackdaw, woodpecker, capercaillie, black grouse, black
grouse, buzzard, sparrow hawk, the owl, the golden eagle and, thanks to
a successful and valuable reintroduction project, the bearded vulture.
Many animals find refuge there and it is also thanks to the natural park
that some endangered species are protected and cared for.