France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

French departments In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety-s ...

Ain Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in 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 ...

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; frp, Dubs) 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 (; Arpitan: ''Digouona''), popularly known as Divonne, is a commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. In 2018, it had a population of 9,788. Divonne-les-Bains is a spa town situate ...

, Gex, Bellegarde-sur-Valserine,

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 Ha ...

(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 or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

of the wilderness 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 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 biotopes 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 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 (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in 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 ...

, 12 are in

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; frp, Dubs) 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 (; Arpitan: ''Digouona''), popularly known as Divonne, is a commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. In 2018, it had a population of 9,788. Divonne-les-Bains is a spa town situate ...

, Gex and Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, 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 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, pl, konik polski, is a Polish breed of pony. There are semi- feral populations in some regions. They are usually mouse dun or striped dun in color. The Bilgoray, pl, konik biłgorajski, of south-eastern Poland is ...

) 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