Project leader: Office of the Vorarlberg State Government, Department IVe Environmental Protection, LFI - Ländliches Fortbildungsinstitut (Rural Institute for Continuing Education). 

Project period: 2002 - 2003

The state of Vorarlberg, as part of a pilot study in the Biosphere Park Grosses Walsertal, began the project “Gesamtbetrieblicher Naturschutzplan” ["Cross-business Nature Conservation Plan] with 28 pilot businesses in 2002.

The goal was to create better understanding amongst farmers of the aims of nature conservation in the region using targeted training with mountain farmers. The ecological effects of their daily activities were highlighted as part of the project. On visits to the farms, ecological connections were explained, management tips given, meadow types discussed and each farm and its method of operation was examined in detail. The nature conservation folder, created as part of the project, is available to all of the pilot businesses and contains plant and animal portraits of species which occur in the meadows, protocols for visits and useful facts about the area.