France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

French departments In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the Regions of France, administrative regions a ...

Ain Ain (, ; ) is a French department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where it ...

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; ) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.Jura. Entry towns (''ville-portes'') situated at the park boundaries are not actually part of the park themselves, but due to their geographic locations are important points of entry into the park. These towns are

Divonne-les-Bains Divonne-les-Bains (; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Digouona''), popularly known simply as Divonne, is a Communes of France, commune in the Ain Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Eastern Fr ...

, Gex,

Bellegarde-sur-Valserine Bellegarde-sur-Valserine (, literally ''Bellegarde on Valserine''; ) is a former Communes of France, commune in the Ain Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Eastern France. On 1 January 2019, ...

,

Champagnole Champagnole () is a commune in the Jura department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Geography Champagnole has the publicity tag of "Pearl of the Jura" and is a small town at the geographical centre of Jura tourism. It stands on ...

, and the Community of Communes of

Oyonnax Oyonnax () is the second most populated commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. Oyonnax lies in a valley of the Jura Mountains in the far north of Ain. It is near the Parc naturel régional du Hau ...

(the latter two not having territory within the park's perimeter).

History

The park was established in 1986. Its aim was to preserve the mountainous landscapes and

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

of the

wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plurale tantum, plural) are Earth, Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human impact on the environment, human activity, or any urbanization, nonurbanized land not u ...

in part of the economic development of the environment. The park currently covers an area of 170,000 hectares. The nature park was the inspiration of Pokémon Village, a legendary village hideout in the

Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...

franchise.

Park administration

The park is managed by a bureau composed of a president, nine vice presidents, and twelve members. It is not managed according to geographic entities but rather according to five thematic ones: * helping to preserve the natural environment and the

biotope A biotope is an area of uniform environmental conditions providing a living place for a specific assemblage of flora (plants), plants and fauna (animals), animals. ''Biotope'' is almost synonymous with the term habitat (ecology), "habitat", which ...

s through sustainable development; * preservation of the rural aspect of the park through support for hand-crafted artistic and agricultural activities, preservation of the forestry's

cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by socie ...

and incentives for using the timber for construction; * improvement and modernization of industrial and traditional hand-crafted activities in order to maintain them in the park; * promotion of summer and winter tourist activities within the park and promotion of the image of the Jura Mountains; * cooperation and coordination between the park's caretakers and its inhabitants towards the above objectives.

Member communes and associated communes

There are currently 105 towns, or communes, that are members of the regional park, of which 25 are in

Ain Ain (, ; ) is a French department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where it ...

, 12 are in

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; ) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.Department of Jura. There are also 5 associated communes (listed below in italics), one in Doubs and 4 in Jura. The 4 communes that remain in the total count are three entry towns that have part of the town in the park (

Divonne-les-Bains Divonne-les-Bains (; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Digouona''), popularly known simply as Divonne, is a Communes of France, commune in the Ain Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Eastern Fr ...

, Gex and

Bellegarde-sur-Valserine Bellegarde-sur-Valserine (, literally ''Bellegarde on Valserine''; ) is a former Communes of France, commune in the Ain Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Eastern France. On 1 January 2019, ...

, and the town of

Champagnole Champagnole () is a commune in the Jura department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Geography Champagnole has the publicity tag of "Pearl of the Jura" and is a small town at the geographical centre of Jura tourism. It stands on ...

, which is also an entry town, but is entirely outside of the park. Cantons du PNR du Haut-Jura

Park photo gallery

File: Jura 8 by andy205.jpg, Le Colomby de Gex File: CrêtdeLaNeige.jpeg, Le Crêt de la Neige File: Mont-Fier.jpg, Le Mont-Fier File: St10.JPG , Saint-Claude File: Morez-depuis-Crottes.jpg ,

Morez Morez () is a former Communes of France, commune of the Jura (department), Jura Departments of France, department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Hauts de Bienne.

File:Pont des Pierres 01.jpg, Pont des Pierres File:Labergement-Sainte-Marie, lacs de Remoray et de Saint-Point vus du belvédère (2) 2015-04-21.jpg, Lake Remoray File: Lac-Rousses2.JPG, Le lac des Rousses File:Avant la transhumance - img 40879.jpg, Wild horses (

Konik The Konik or Polish Konik, , is a Polish list of horse breeds, breed of small horse or pony. There are semi-feral populations in some regions. They are usually dun gene, mouse dun or primitive markings, striped dun. The Bilgoray, , of south-e ...

) File:Cascade du hérrissons (Jura) - panoramio.jpg, Mountain streams File:Cascades du Hérisson (6045046687).jpg, Cascades File:Gorges Langouette.jpg, Gorges

Publications

The park is featured in numerous publications such as guidebooks, maps, photographic portfolios, and educational and scientific documents. The content of these publications is diverse and can be divided into 7 categories: * Craft industry, folk know-how, housing * Coffee table books * Cultural heritage collections * The environment * Games and education * Photographic portfolios * Hiking and discovery

External links

Parc naturel régional du Haut-Jura official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haut-Jura Regional natural parks of France Geography of Jura (department) Geography of Doubs Geography of Ain Tourist attractions in Jura (department) Tourist attractions in Doubs Tourist attractions in Ain