Assessment of the Sulzbachtäler Wilderness Area, Austria

The National Park Hohe Tauern Salzburg decided to establish a wilderness area in the heart of the national park. The Salzburg part of the Hohe Tauern National Park covers 80.500 hectares and is bigger than its Tyrolean (61.100 ha) and Carinthian (44.000 ha) components. The wilderness area covers an area of 6.728 hectares, comprises 25 peaks over 3,000 m above sea level and is called Wildnisgebiet Sulzbachtȁler (or: Wilderness Area Sulzbachtäler). It is located in the valley heads of Obersulzbachtal and Untersulzbachtal. It is located between 1,389 m above sea level and 3,657 m Grossvenediger summit, highest point of the wilderness area. 75% of the area is located in the alpine altitude range;there are 17 glacier, extending over 20 km².

 The protected area legal provisions, management objectives, governance structures, enforcement system and – above all – the natural characteristics of the Sulzbachtȁler wilderness area (including its naturalness, scale, undisturbeness and “un-developpeness” provide for the conclusion that the Sulzbachtȁler wilderness area is a protected area, properly assigned to the IUCN Ib protected area category within the wider area of the Hohe Tauern National Park.