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A project, launched in 2000, for a new Swiss National Park in the region of Locarno afforded local communities the opportunity to discuss certain aims and proposals and to consider the development of their surroundings and the best use of their territorial resources in terms of recreation. Based on a feasibility study carried out in the region of Locarno and Vallemaggia, the present study focuses on the data that concern the geographical character of the area in question. Forests – sizeable and variated pine forests, amongst others– account for half of the area. Natural spaces make up more than 90% of the entire region. The National Park project is not only a challenge as far as the environment is concerned but also at cultural and institutional levels. Above all, therefore, the evolution of a new National Park is a process; a process that calls for reflection on new environment management models and lends new cultural impulse to seek out the triumvirate of human-creativitynature.