Fauna and flora

Aussois is home to exceptional flora and fauna. A third of France's flora is represented in the Vanoise. Here, animal and plant species are protected by the Vanoise National Park, which offers them an environment in which they can flourish.

An exceptional wealth

Ibex, stoat, nutcracker...

The rich biodiversity of the Vanoise National Park is undeniable: from large ungulates to birds, and from insects to amphibians.

Herbivores (deer, roe deer, chamois, ibex… they’re all found in Aussois the Haute Maurienne Vanoise), rodents (the mountain hare, which changes its coat with the seasons, and the marmot, which is easily spotted in spring and summer on the vast alpine meadows or in valleys such as that of the FondAussois, various voles including the snow vole and the collared vole), carnivores (foxes, badgers, martens, stone martens, and stoats), bats (the common pipistrelle and the northern long-eared bat), and insectivores such as the water shrew.

Among the 125 speciesof birds that nest in the Vanoise, one can find: the golden eagle, the crossbill, the nutcracker, the Tengmalm’s owl, the black redstart, the eagle owl, the rock thrush, the rock sparrow, the black grouse, the rock partridge, the rock ptarmigan, the black woodpecker, the three-toed woodpecker (found in France only in Savoie and Haute-Savoie), and the remarkable wallcreeper, which is sometimes seen on the rock faces of the trail climbing along Plan d’Amont.

Here, animal and plant species are protected in the Vanoise National Park, which provides them with an environment in which they can flourish.

A third of France's flora

The latest comprehensive survey of France’s flora, *Flora Gallica*, published in 2014, lists approximately 5,000 species of vascular plants (ferns and fern-like plants, conifers, and flowering plants) in metropolitan France. The Vanoise Massif alone is home to 1,700 species— a third of France’s flora —covering less than 0.5% of the country’s territory! In the spring, you can admire fields and alpine meadows blooming in a thousand colors. Wild orchids are abundant, including the stunning lady’s slippers, as well as the famous edelweiss.

This exceptional diversity can be attributed to the variety of habitats found here, the different elevations (ranging from 1,000 to 3,800 meters in Haute Maurienne Vanoise), the range of aspect types, and the significant differences in the chemical composition of the rocks and soils. Aussois the Haute Maurienne Vanoise, situated on the border between the Northern and Southern Alps, also benefit from diverse climatic influences that offer the flora and fauna vast opportunities to thrive.