It is located in the south-eastern part of France and consists in a mountainous region of the Dauphiné Alps, south of Grenoble and north of Gap, shared between the départements of Isère and Hautes-Alpes.

It rises up to 4,102 m (13,458 ft) at the Barre des Ecrins and covers 918 km² (354 mi²) of high mountain areas, with high peaks, glacier fields, glacier valleys, alpine pastures, subalpine woodlands and lakes.

Its borders mostly correspond to these of the Massif des Ecrins, delimited by the main valleys of rivers Drac, Romanche and Durance (with its Guisane dependency).

The park has been awarded the European Diploma of Protected Areas.

Pétarel lake (above and below)

More information at: http://atlas.parcsnationaux.org/ecrins/

• Mercantour National Park (Parc national du Mercantour) (18 August 1979) – 685 km²

Since its creation, the Mercantour Park has proven to be popular, with 800,000 visitors every year enjoying the 600 km of marked footpaths.

The protected area covers some 685 km², consisting of a central uninhabited zone comprising seven valleys – Roya, Bévéra, Vésubie, Tinée, Haut Var/Cians (in the Alpes-Maritimes) plus Verdon and Ubaye (in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) – and a peripheral zone comprising 28 villages. Many of them are perched villages, concealing a great architecture (numerous churches decorated with murals and altar pieces by primitive Niçois painters). More than 150 rural sites are located within the Park. Around Mt.Bego there are petroglyphs pecked out on schist and granite faces. They have been dated from the late neolithic and bronze ages.

In the heart of this setting of vertiginous summits (including Mont Gélas, the highest point in the Maritime Alps at 3,143 m), lies a gem listed as a Historical Monument, the famous Vallée des Merveilles, the aptly named “valley of marvels”. At the foot of Mont Bégo, climbers can admire some 37,000 petroglyphs dating back to the Bronze Age, representing weapons, cattle and human figures that are sometimes very mysterious. A less challenging destination is the Musée des Merveilles at Tende.

More information at: http://www.mercantour.eu/

OVERSEAS DEPARTMENTS OF FRANCE:

• Guadeloupe National Park (Parc national de la Guadeloupe) (20 February 1989) – 173 km²

Guadeloupe National Park is located in the Leeward Islands of the eastern Caribbean region. The Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin Nature Reserve (French: Réserve Naturelle du Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin) is a marine protected area adjacent to the park and administered in conjunction with it. Together, these protected areas comprise the Guadeloupe Archipelago (French: l’Archipel de la Guadeloupe) biosphere reserve.

In 1992, Guadeloupe National Park achieved international recognition when the core area of the park and the Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin Nature Reserve were designated as an international biosphere reserve by UNESCO.

More information at: http://www.in-west-indies.com/guadeloupe/art-culture/natural-sites.htm

• Guiana Amazonian Park (Parc amazonien de Guyane) (2007) – 33,900 km²

(mostly a marine parc, with little land area)

More information at: http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0228-french_guiana1.html

• Réunion National Park (Parc national de la Réunion) (2007) – 1,054 km²

It is located in the western Indian Ocean region. The park protects the endemic ecosystems of “Les Hauts“, Réunion’s mountainous interior.

For more information, please visit the website:
http://www.parc-national-reunion.prd.fr/UNESCO/En_Depliant_PMUnesco.pdf