The Alps: Our playground, our refuge, and a place that must be protected!

Everyone knows it: first the climb, then the descent, and in between enjoying the sunshine and fresh air - what more could you want?!

Taking breaks is important. Even more important is picking up the trash you've created.

We'll give you a little insight into how long it takes for things to decompose in the mountains:

✔ Avoid twilight
🌱 The time when most wild animals are active.

✔ Observe forestry closures
🌱 Areas temporarily closed for forestry work or pest control, for example.

✔ Do not enter restricted hunting areas
🌱 These include designated wildlife rest areas and hunting zones.

✔ Keep your distance from grazing livestock
🌱 Do not feed them and avoid mother cows, keep dogs on a leash.

✔ Do not enter wildlife rest areas and feeding areas
🌱 Wild animals need a place to retreat to, avoid feeding areas, close the door behind you, and do not enter young forest areas.

Chamois and red deer

★ To conserve energy, these animals limit their activities. This makes escape extremely strenuous for them.

✘ Exhausted animals often fall while fleeing or find too little food.

♥︎ Please try to avoid them as much as possible!

Grouse

★ The capercaillie and black grouse only stay in a limited area where they can find food and are safe from predators and the elements.

✘ These animals are already threatened with extinction, which is why feeding times are particularly important for them.

♥︎ Please avoid these areas at dusk and try to avoid getting close to them.

Mountain hare

★ The mountain hare is nocturnal, and due to climate change, its habitat is already very limited, and they are retreating to ever higher altitudes.

✘ Nighttime skiing or snowshoeing can disturb and alarm them. If they are disturbed during these trips, their habitat will shrink even further and their territories will be fragmented.

♥︎ Please avoid nighttime excursions into the animals' habitats and keep your distance.

The Edelweiss

★ Probably the best-known and most popular alpine flower. This is precisely why picking and digging it up is strictly prohibited and carries heavy fines.

✘ Highly endangered and already on the "Red List Level 2".

♥︎ Please leave this unique flower in its native habitat and take it back to the valley as a souvenir or "token of love."

The Globeflower

★ The bright yellow, spherical flowers grow on nutrient-rich and permanently moist soils at altitudes of up to 3,000 meters.

✘ Drainage of extensively used wet and fresh meadows has reduced the flower's habitat to the mountains, and they are protected.

♥︎ Please leave these unique, slightly poisonous flowers in their original locations, of which there are not many left.

The Gentian

★ Whether it's the bell gentian, the spring gentian, or the purple gentian, this flower isn't just known for its many varieties; it even has its own song dedicated to it.

✘ Due to its popularity, it has become one of the most popular flower species in the Alps. This, along with the demanding soil conditions, makes it one of the most endangered alpine flowers.

♥︎ Please don't bring it back to the valley as a souvenir. Instead, take a photo of each beauty and sing along to the song together.