The idea of establishing a Natural Park in the western part of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region was first formulated in 1973 in a document entitled "Initial proposals for the establishment of a Park in Alta Valcellina". The Regional Town Planning Scheme that defined the regional areas to be protected was drafted five years later and this territory also came to be included.

In the 1986/1989 three-year period, the Conservation and Development Plan was drafted at the request of the Regional Authorities together with the participating municipalities. The following year, the municipalities of Andreis, Cimolais, Claut, Erto e Casso, and Forni di Sopra approved the Plan and the Park was established with the name “Carnia Pre-Alps Park"; subsequently in 1991 following the participation of the Municipality of Forni di Sotto an agreement was signed for the creation of a “Co-ordination Committee” assigned to the initial management of the protected area. The initiative of establishing a protected area was therefore taken by the local participating authorities.

In 1996, the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region enacted Regional Law No. 42 dated September 30, which in accordance with national Law No.  394/1991 definitively established the “Friuli Dolomiti Alps Regional Natural Park".

The Park's general objective is the conservation of the particularity of the territory and the improvement of its natural environment and resources, while also pursuing compatible development by also proposing alternative models, promoting appreciation for naturalism through education and information activities, and instituting research and monitoring activities in different parts  of the territory.

Park territory covers uninhabited areas, even if the presence of men and women and the work of their hand has left significant traces, such as the Val Poschiadea Cableway in Forni di Sotto recently restored by the Park Administrative Body that now illustrates the phases of work of the woodcutting and timber floating.

Various areas of the Park hold the remains of numerous man-made structures (Kilns) for the processing of lime.

The Park's objectives include the recovery and conservation of traditions, and on more than one occasion, the Administrative Body has contributed to the support of projects like the Charcoal Kiln,  the ancient procedure adopted for the transformation of wood into charcoal.

The territory contains summer pastures, ruins of shepherd's shacks, mountain dairies, mule driver's tracks, trails and numerous other signs of human passage and inserts them all in complete respect for environmental and ecological equilibrium.

The Park is also assigned the task of conserving and enhancing the value of these historical landmarks that are part of our precious ethnographic-naturalistic heritage.

Environmental ethics and respect for Nature were values cherished perhaps more deeply by our ancestors, who lived in greater symbiosis with the natural world and gave it all the consideration it deserves, also due to the fact that the earth, sky and water offered them their principal source of nourishment, the raw material for their labours.

Our ancestors earned their living primarily from the land in one way or another, by farming, breeding or hunting. They were woodcutters, shepherds, charcoal kiln workers and craftsmen.

Two distinct ethnography museums have been created to represent these ancient noble occupations to the modern generations: The Clautana Home Ethnography Museum (Museo Etnografico Casa Clautana) in Claut, and the Folk Art and Culture Museum (Museo Etnografico Arte e Civiltà Contadina) in Andreis.

The recently renovated Poffabro Park Visitor's Center inserted in the enchanting setting of one of the most beautiful medieval hamlets in all of Italy has opened an exhibit entitled "Dairy Arts and Summer Pasturing in Park Territory" (l’Arte Casearia and Alpeggio in Park Territory) in the village's former dairy, which has now become one of the Park's Visitor Centers and Information Offices.