Groscavallo

Groscavallo is a municipality in Piedmont on the Piedmontese side of the Gran Paradiso National Park. In 2026 it is one of five municipalities that applied to join the park, together with Ingria, Pont Canavese, Sparone and Ribordone ^[1][2].

The request to extend the Gran Paradiso Park

For the first time in the 104-year history of the Gran Paradiso National Park, Italy's oldest, Groscavallo and the other four municipalities on the Piedmontese side began the procedure to annex part of their territory to the protected area ^[1][2]. The project has already received a favourable opinion from Ispra, the Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, and is awaiting discussion at the State-Regions Conference before moving on to the Ministry of the Environment ^[1][2].

Groscavallo is asking to join the park with 4,000 hectares of its territory, which would bring more than 43% of the municipal area within the park ^[1][2]. Overall, if approved, the request from the five municipalities would extend the park by more than 8,463 hectares, about 12% more than its current area, as stated by the park authority's president, Mauro Durbano ^[1][2].

The hearing before the Environment Committee

On 15 October 2026 the Fifth Environment, Parks and Protected Areas Committee of the Piedmont Regional Council, chaired by Sergio Bartoli, held a hearing with the leadership of the Gran Paradiso National Park on the extension project, at the request of councillor Roberto Ravello ^[1]. The hearing was attended, among others, by Groscavallo's mayor Giuseppe Giacomelli and deputy mayor Maria Cristina Cerutti Dafarra, together with the mayors of Ingria and Ribordone, the park's president Mauro Durbano and its director Sonia Calderola ^[1]. According to Bartoli, the request stems from the will of the local administrations and marks a sign of confidence that environmental protection, local produce and sustainable tourism can be combined ^[2].

Timeline

• 16 October 2026 — For the first time in the 104-year history of the Gran Paradiso National Park, five municipalities on the Piedmontese side (Groscavallo, Ingria, Pont Canavese, Sparone and Ribordone) apply to join it; the extension project, which already has a favourable opinion from Ispra, is discussed by the Piedmont Regional Council's Environment Committee, chaired by Sergio Bartoli. → TorinoOggi La Stampa

Related articles: Five Canavese municipalities ask to join the Gran Paradiso National Park (October 2026), Ingria, Ribordone

Sources

1. Cinque Comuni chiedono di entrare nel Parco del Gran Paradiso — TorinoOggi, 15 October 2026
2. Il Parco del Gran Paradiso allarga i suoi confini: è la prima volta da 104 anni — La Stampa, 16 October 2026