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Short History

Starting in 1992, the GIS for the Swiss National Park was originally hosted at the Department of Geography of the University of Zurich. Within a few years the demands became so large that a subsidiary was needed operating in the Swiss National Park headquarters in Zernez supporting researchers and park management. Since 2000 the operational tasks are performed in Zernez while the more research oriented tasks were handled in Zurich until 2009.

The GIS for the Sihlwald Forest Reserve was originally maintained on a private basis from 1994 until 1999, when it became also officially hosted at the Department of Geography of the University of Zurich.

Over the years the collaboration between these two institutions became more and more intense in many areas so it was decided to establish a formal plattform for Geographical Information Systems and Science in protected areas.

In 2011 the Swiss Parks Network started implementing a geodata infrastructure (GDI) for all parks of national interest in Switzerland in close collaboration with the Swiss National Park. The infrastructure is also located at the Swiss National Park headquarters in Zernez providing its services throughout Switzerland.

In 2013 the National Parks Austria decided to join the meta-meta database system, which can also be queried in combination with the Swiss Parks Network system at parcs.network.