Another cross-border national park could be created, if 18 000 hectares of land on the Austrian side - owned by the Austrian Forestry Commission and the Bavarian Saalforste - were combined with the German National Park Berchtesgaden.
The greater part of the forest is natural, whereby larch, stone pine and spruce dominate. Even small remains of virgin forest still exist. Large expanses of the higher areas are karstic and interlaced with extensive cave systems.
Some typical native animals for this region are the Wild Goat, Golden Eagle, Rock Ptarmigan, Crag Martin or Rock Sparrow.