Vanoise

France's first national park (1963), created in direct response to the need to protect the Alpine ibex, whose population had been reduced to a handful of animals crossing the border from neighbouring Gran Paradiso in Italy. Structured as a high-mountain core zone (more than 40 peaks above three thousand metres) and a more populated periphery, Vanoise lies between the Tarentaise and Maurienne valleys, surrounded by some of the largest ski resorts in the world (Val d'Isère, Tignes, Les Trois Vallées), which demands a delicate balance between winter tourism and strict conservation.