Management plan for regional development in the Mürzer Oberland Nature Park launched in Neuberg an der Mürz
A few weeks ago the Mürzer Oberland Nature Park was able to start implementing the management plan for the Mürzer Oberland as commissioned by the Province of Styria. With the involvement of all relevant stakeholders from business, politics, tourism and regional development, the Mürzer Oberland Nature Park and, in this context, certain economic interests of the market town of Neuberg an der Mürz will be evaluated over the next 1 ½ years.
The Nature Park was pleased with the active participation of the Upper Styria East Regional Management on the one hand and the Mariazellerland Mürztal Leader Region on the other in the last workshop.
From these workshops, fields of action for the region's future activities and projects were developed. I will be happy to make the contents of the workshops and the associated considerations available on request, especially with regard to supporting the regional economy.
Mürzer Oberland Nature Park - Inventory of one of Austria's largest private natural history collections completed
It is considered one of the largest and most diverse private natural history collections in Austria - the collection of Prof. Herbert Schliefsteiner, which has been housed in the Mürzer Oberland Nature Park for over 30 years. In 2021, the market town of Neuberg an der Mürz took over the exhibits as part of a donation from Helmut Schliefsteiner, the son of the collection's founder. At the same time, the market town concluded an operating agreement with the Mürzer Oberland Nature Park Association for the exhibition and maintenance of the exhibits.
The Mürzer Oberland Nature Park then began, with the financial support of the Cultural Department of the Province of Styria, to create a professional depot and to digitally inventory the exhibits. Two employees were hired for these activities and this project was completed at the end of December 2023. In addition, as part of the "Who are you Styria" campaign, an exhibit from the collection, the "defensive female golden eagle", was awarded a prize as a particularly valuable exhibit with a very special background story!
More than 1,000 animal specimens from all over the world, including unique showpieces such as a great bustard, were photographed and scientifically recorded and entered into an online inventory. In coordination with the Museumsforum Steiermark, a branch of the Universalmuseum Joanneum, the exhibits are now available not only for the future new Neuberg an der Mürz Nature Museum but also for other exhibitions.
The collection itself will become the heart of the new nature museum funded by the state's nature conservation department. With this project, the market town of Neuberg an der Mürz, together with the Mürzer Oberland Nature Park, has been able to secure the preservation of one of the most important natural history collections in our region of Hochsteiermark.