The Vanoise national Park was the first national park created in France (in 1963
It was created to prevent the disappearance of the Alpine ibex in France, as a complement to the actions of its Italian neighbour : the Gran Paradiso National Park.
This former Royal game reserve became the1st Italian national park in 1922, the objective being to protect the Alpine ibex.
The two parks, which share a common border running for a distance of 14 km, have been twinned since 1972 and together form a protected area covering 1,250 km².
The two parks jointly received the European Diploma of Protected Areas in 2011.