Articles
Club Arc Alpin makes a stand on climate change, the expansion of fixed rope routes, and motorised offroad traffic
On September 12 the Club Arc Alpin (CAA) held its members' meeting in Innsbruck at which it formulated political demands on climate change and adopted a number of policy documents on fixed rope routes and motorised offroad traffic. On the subject of climate change the CAA called for a reduction in CO2 as well as a move away from a dependency on fossil sources of energy. It specifically addressed the issue of traffic, to which it suggested a number of measures.
New issue of the Eco.mont magazine
The latest issue of eco.mont - Journal on Protected Mountain Areas Research is now available. It features scientific articles from European mountain regions and the Himalayas, with articles on amphibians, visitor monitoring, information management, resource utilisation, and the perception of biodiversity changes.
Alpine Convention's climate portal now online
The Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention has gone online with its climate portal, in time for International Mountain Day and the climate negotiations in Copenhagen. The climate portal collates and disseminates information on events, activities and developments relating to climate change in the Alps. Climate-related information from throughout the Alpine region can be submitted to the portal for publication.
The construction industry as a key to the problem of climate change
The information provided through cc.alps is now available in the form of focussed background reports called Compacts, which can be downloaded from the CIPRA website at www.cipra.org/de/cc.alps/ergebnisse/compacts . The first three Compacts - on Energy, Nature Protection, and Construction and Refurbishment - address their subjects with reference to climate change in the Alpine context. The authors list and analyse activities relating to climate change mitigation and adaptation, assessing them for sustainability, explaining the conflicts of interest involved, and presenting examples of good practice.
New content for www.cipra.org/cc.alps
The cc.alps website now offers additional in-depth content in the form of Compacts. Regular updates and additions are planned. For each topic, CIPRA has drawn up a list of demands, which can be downloaded separately from its website at www.cipra.org/de/cc.alps/ergebnisse (de/fr/it/sl).
cc.alps to continue in 2010
The cc.alps project continues in 2010 with a focus on more in-depth research and dissemination of the knowledge generated, above all by promoting specific projects at the municipal level, and also by organising and participating in international events.
New builds to meet tough climate requirements by 2020
From 2020 new builds in the EU will have to comply with tough energy balance requirements. Last week representatives of the European Parliament and EU states agreed that new builds should in future have virtually zero greenhouse gas emissions. Any remaining energy requirements should also be met essentially from renewable sources. These stipulations are to come into force two years earlier for public buildings.
Extremes of climate affect spread of tree species
In a recently published study scientists at the WSL (the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape) working with an international research team demonstrated for the first time that the disappearance of tree species in certain regions is due not just to the higher mean temperature but also to extremes of climate-related events.
New builds to meet tough climate requirements by 2020
From 2020 new builds in the EU will have to comply with tough energy balance requirements. Last week representatives of the European Parliament and EU states agreed that new builds should in future have virtually zero greenhouse gas emissions. Any remaining energy requirements should also be met essentially from renewable sources. These stipulations are to come into force two years earlier for public buildings.
New alpMedia dossiers now online
The alpmedia dossiers on energy and nature conservation are now available in German and English on the CIPRA web. Besides a report the dossiers consist of more detailed information such as news items, publications, events and examples of best practice.
AlpHouse combines traditional trades & crafts and energy efficiency
The new three-year Alpine Space Project entitled AlpHouse was launched in early October. AlpHouse strives to enhance the competitiveness of SMEs, especially in the area of trades & crafts, by providing them with the knowledge, skills and tools for top-quality renovations of old buildings in the Alpine region.
Climate check-up for the Alps
What sort of impact and side effects do climate response measures have? CIPRA's latest issue of AlpsInsight entitled In the Name of Climate Protection looks at how climate change issues are being addressed in the Alps and points the way towards sustainable action.
Toxic glacier melts
A new study has confirmed that melting glaciers release chemical substances that have long been banned and are not longer produced by industry. Researchers from Swiss education institutes took frozen sediment core samples from the Oberaar reservoir in the Grimsel area in Switzerland and used the layers to reconstruct the history of the lake back to when it was first established in 1953.
Alpine Convention acts as a guide for the Dinaric Alps
CIPRA Slovenia has successfully completed its project entitled "Knowledge transfer in the area of sustainable development from the Alpine Convention to the municipality of Mojkovac in Montenegro". The project provides a good starting point for the comprehensive promotion of nature conservation and sustainable development in the Dinaric mountain range.
The 2009 Climate Winners
The winning municipalities of the 2009 Climate Star were presented with their awards in Melk in Lower Austria on October 22, under the motto of "Fast Track to Climate Protection". The proud winners from the Alpine region were the local authorities of Lustenau in Austria and Sand in Taufers in South Tyrol/I. The record participation of 444 municipalities from eleven European countries, with a very strong showing by local authorities in the Alps, highlights the importance now attached to climate protection.
Calm and collected in a heated discussion: Ivan Hribar, director of Snovik thermal spa/SL
The Thermal Center Snovik was the winner of one of the seven prizes in CIPRA’s cc.alps competition for its activities . We met the director Ivan Hribar.
Catalogue of connectivity measures: new publication in English, French, German and Italian
The Continuum Project just published online a catalogue of possible measures for improving ecological connectivity in English, French, German and Italian language.
New ideas for life in the Alps in the post-fossil age
Last week's annual CIPRA conference on the subject of growth attracted some 200 attendees to Liechtenstein. There was a consensus that our limited resources mean that growth is finite. Numerous ideas were offered and calls made for a response to the inevitable downsizing process. CIPRA summarised the most urgent calls in a catalogue of ideas.
The Alpine Convention in small bites
"The Alpine Convention in Small Bites" is the name of a new page on the website operated by the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention, which provides short summaries of the main contents of the Alpine Convention.
Report on the water resources of the Alps and climate change
An English-language report on the water household of the Alps in times of climate change was recently published under the title "Regional Climate Change and Adaptation - The Alps Facing the Challenge of Changing Water Resources". The authors consider specific options for adaptation to changes in the availability of water in the Alpine region, including the keys to success and the obstacles to be overcome.
Beacons of energy-efficient construction in the mountains
The summer of 2009 saw the opening of the first mountain chalet to be built to the Minergy-P standard. Located in the ski area of Zermatt/CH at an altitude of 3,883 metres, the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise is a model of ecological construction at the foot of the Klein Matterhorn.
New ALPARC brochure available
"Large Carnivores in the Alps and Carpathians: Living with the Wildlife" is a recently published brochure containing the results of the conference on large carnivores held in Slovakia at the beginning of July.
Abondance Ski Area reopened
In the last few years, lack of snow was a major problem for the ski area in Abondance/F, which is located at 1500 m above sea-level. Because of poor snow conditions, the lifts did not open at all in the last two winter seasons.
Latest edition of the Journal of Alpine Research now available online
The latest edition of the international and multidisciplinary "Journal of Alpine Research" is now available online under the title "Mountain Regions as Referents for Collective Action".
Mountain film festivals at a glance
A good overview of the main mountain film festivals in the Alps is provided by a new brochure on "Mountain Film Festivals in the Alps" published by the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention.
New publication: Mountain Biodiversity and Climate Change
On the basis of papers presented at the International Mountain Biodiversity Conference held in Kathmandu/NP in November 2008, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has published a brochure on biodiversity in mountain landscapes and climate change.
Mountain hike for climate protection
On 15 August 2009, some seventy hikers went up to the Goldbergkees glacier on the Hoher Sonnblick in Salzburg/A to draw attention to the impacts of global climate change.
11,000 invasive species in Europe
The first complete European report on the presence of invasive alien species of flora and fauna is now available for download at the DAISIE website. The DAISIE project was initiated by the European Commission to obtain an inventory and a documentation of the effects of immigrant species in Europe.
Special edition of the Mountain Forum Bulletin now online
The July edition of the Mountain Forum Bulletin, entitled "Mountain Biodiversity: Lifeline for the Future", is now available for download at www.mtnforum.org/rsmfnews.cfm?newsid=52 (en).
350 newly discovered species in the Himalayas
A flying frog and the world's smallest deer are among the species discovered in the Himalayas in the last ten years. According to a report recently published by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), between 1998 and 2008, a total of 353 new species were identified.