This is the challenge launched two years ago by the league for the protection of nature. A century after opening the Grisons Park, a pioneer project at the time, Switzerland has been left way behind by other countries in the Alps; for instance, there are now about twenty national parks in Italy alone.
Now six regions in Switzerland have asked to create a new national park. Two of these regions are in the Italian area: Locarno and the valleys of Blenio and Moesa.
This is naturally to protect nature, but mostly to play the last card in boosting the economy and attract tourists who hardly ever come here, also owing to a lack of facilities. However, farmers, hunters and quarry workers view the projects with suspicion and do not want new rules that might interfere with their activities.
In the meantime Berne is studying a law to make the creation of a new national park possible. There is still a long way to go before we shall see a new protected area in the Swiss confederation.