In July 2012, it was converted into Salzburger Lungau und Kärntner Nockberge, a UNESCO designated biosphere reserve.
[1] Originally, a ski area had been planned in what is now the core zone of the Nockberge since the early 1970s, when the region was opened up with the Tauern Autobahn.
It was supposed to open up the Nockberge for tourism and was expanded to a continuously paved, toll tourist road by 1981.
The plans to develop what is now the core area of Carinthia with, among other things, 18 cable cars and lifts as well as two hotel villages with a total of 3,000 beds on both sides of the Nockalmstrasse met with little approval from the population.
In these areas, a close connection between people and nature and sustainable development are paramount, and the protection goals are extended to include cultural assets much more comprehensively.