The chalet village Fanningberg offers holiday apartments and chalets in the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Salzburg Lungau.
What do the Rocky Mountains, the Niagara Falls and the Galápagos Islands have in common with the Salzburg Lungau? They all are UNESCO Biosphere Reserves.
The Lungau is surrounded by the towering peaks of the Radstädter Tauern and the Hohe Tauern. As a natural paradise in a class of its own and also as a model region for sustainable development and living in harmony with nature.
Fragrant stone pine forests, blooming alpine meadows and crystal clear emerald green mountain lakes as well as old craftsmanship and modern cultivation testify to a worldwide unique natural and cultural landscape.
In 2012 it was awarded the UNESCO biosphere reserve title. The UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Salzburg Lungau, together with the Carinthian Nock Mountains, form the largest of the four biosphere parks in Austria.
UNESCO biosphere reserves are regions of sustainable development. They serve to preserve biological diversity and protect natural resources. They form the core of the UNESCO program “Man and the Biosphere”. They combine nature conservation and sustainable development in the region.
Man should only intervene little in national parks and other protected areas. Large areas of retreat should be available for the flora and fauna. In the parks, people are actively involved in the protection of the natural and cultural landscape they have shaped.
Director Audrey Azoulay emphasizes that UNESCO has been committed to promoting harmony between man and nature through its programs and networks since it was founded in November 1945.
With the biosphere reserves, the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture also aims to protect intangible cultural heritage. Regional customs testify to the living tradition in Lungau and can be found in the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage. Examples of this are the “Vereinigten zu Tamsweg” or the carrying of the historical giant figure “Samson”.
The regional delicacies in the Salzburg Lungau Biosphere Park are just as varied as its natural treasures and customs. You can see for yourself, for example, at a biosphere reserve breakfast.
In addition to home-made butter and cheese from the region, you should especially use farmhouse bread made from Lungau Tauern rye. This particularly digestible type of grain is not only very tasty, but also beautiful to look at. The stalks grow up to two meters high and can be admired in St. Margarethen, for example.
In Österreich gibt es noch drei weitere anerkannte UNESCO Biosphärenparks. Der Biosphärenpark Großes Walsertal, der Biosphärenpark Wienerwald und der Biosphärenpark Unteres Murtal.
Die einzigartige Möglichkeit gleich zwei Biosphärenparks zu erkunden bietet die Fahrradtour “Tour de Mur”. Für Radbegeisterte bietet sich St. Michael als Ausgangspunkt an. Der Murradweg gilt als abwechslungsreicher Flussradweg.
