Articles
Our demand: Olympics-free Alps!
After the celebrations, the hangover of the morning after the Olympics: the reckoning of the consequential damage and the follow-up costs in Sochi. And just as it has been for all the venues around the world that have hosted the Winter Olympics, the reckoning will be severe. In an open letter, CIPRA is calling on IOC President Thomas Bach to initiate a fundamental reform of the IOC. In fact CIPRA has upped the ante with a policy document demanding that no more Winter Olympics be planned or staged in their current form. Read More…
Alps without Olympics: CIPRA’s demands concerning Olympic Winter Games
CIPRA International believes that, given the present situation, the Olympic Winter Games should no longer be held in the Alps. The Alps should remain the Olympic-free zone they have been since 2006. As they currently stand, the Olympic Winter Games are neither environmentally nor socially acceptable. CIPRA is therefore opposed to the Winter Olympics being staged in the Alps – or anywhere else – in their current form. Developments in recent decades show that the mountain regions are no longer suitable venues for these environmentally harmful and ruinous major events. Referendums held in the Canton of Grisons and in Munich prove that large segments of the population of the Alps are no longer willing to shoulder the burden of Olympic Winter Games. Read More…
CIPRA embarks on a long-distance walk
CIPRA is taking over in 2014 the management of the secretariat of the "Via Alpina" long-distance trail. Together both networks are working for more sustainable development in the Alps. Passionate hikers shall not be the only ones to benefit. Read More…
Italy sticks to the traffic protocol
Much was at stake, but finally the concerns regarding the validity of the traffic protocol have been dismissed. How a declaration on a declaration saved the principle at the heart of the Alpine Convention, but cannot exorcise the ghost of the Alemagna autobahn. Read More…
CIPRA embarks on a long-distance walk
On 1 January 2014, CIPRA International took over the secretariat of the long-distance trail Via Alpina. Together both alpine-wide networks are working for more sustainable development in the Alps. Passionate hikers shall not be the only ones to benefit. Read More…
Macro-region for the Alps: We are ready!
The EU gave the go-ahead for a macro-region for the Alpine region five weeks ago, but civil society has been left in the dark ever since: national and regional governments are still discussing whether civil society should be permitted to play an active role in the steering group and have again adjourned the debate. NGOs and networks are ready to help build the “House of the Alps” as long as they are given access to the construction site. Read More…
An Alpine Crossing Exchange is legally feasible
There are no legal obstacles to the introduction of an Alpine Crossing Exchange (ACE), provided the Alpine countries show the necessary political will. This is the conclusion reached by a study commissioned by the European Region Tyrol - South Tyrol - Trentino. Read More…
Point of view: who will fill the macro-regional Alpine house with life?
Just as in the building of a house, the inhabitants are the most important persons involved in the Alpine macro-region. But, eight weeks after the start of the process, states and regions have yet to indicate to the representatives of civil society whether they may contribute. R.S.V.P. Read More…
Why Sochi is not in the Alps
The idea of the Alps as a venue for the Winter Olympics is these days scarcely conceivable. CIPRA has now produced a review of the reasons underlying this, the experiences gained from the candidatures of Annecy, Salzburg, Munich and Graubünden (Grisons), and what remains of the Turin Games. Read More…
Genetic engineering: sinister passengers in the Alps
In Switzerland genetically modified rapeseed is spreading in uncontrolled fashion. Yet its cultivation and use for feeding have been prohibited there since 2008. How is it that such rape is appearing in places where it has no right to be? Read More…
Oh...
…the Alps have clearly got wilder, particularly in the Swiss canton of Graubünden (Grisons). Read More…
Why Sochi is not in the Alps
The 2014 Winter Olympics could have been held in the Alps except that, at the time, Salzburg’s candidacy fell through with the IOC. Nowadays, the Winter Olympics have virtually no chance of success among the people who actually live in the Alps. CIPRA looks back at the experiences gained in recent years. Read More…
An Alpine Crossing Exchange is legally feasible
There are no legal obstacles to the introduction of an Alpine Crossing Exchange (ACE), provided the Alpine countries show the necessary political will. This is the conclusion reached by a study commissioned by the European Region Tyrol - South Tyrol - Trentino. Read More…
NGOs and networks for a macro-region Alps and participation of civil society
On 19 December 2013 the European Council will decide whether there should be a European strategy for the Alpine space. States and regions have been working for months on an appropriate proposal – while excluding representatives of civil society. Now the NGOs and networks are presenting a joint paper containing their views. Read More…
Austrian tunnel vision
The Austrian town Feldkirch wants to build a by-pass and thus create a connection between the Austrian and Swiss motorway systems. Liechtenstein fears it will be overrun by traffic. Is this a case for the Alpine Convention? Read More…
Point of view: The mountains do not grow to heaven
Mountains and valleys do not grow bigger - at least not in the human timescale. Yet our appetites grow from day to day. Sooner or later we will have to adapt our consumption of natural resources to their availability. We had better decide freely for a more modest life before we are forced to do so, demands Claire Simon. Read More…
We are the macro-region Alps
On 19 December 2013 the European Council will decide whether there should be a European strategy for the Alpine space. States and regions have been working for months on an appropriate proposal - while excluding representatives of civil society. Why the alpine macro-region needs the science, NGOs and municipalities. Read More…
Switzerland fails transport shift
There are still too many trucks on Swiss roads, says the Swiss Federal Council in its transport shift report. Instead of planning concrete measures to shift goods onto rail, it now wants a new political discussion - which has prompted resistance. Read More…
alpMedia wins Alp Web Award 2002
CIPRA has won the "Alp Web Award 2002" in recognition of its www.alpmedia.net web site. The award acknowledges alpMedia as a web site that focuses on mountain issues and complies with the objectives of the UN's Year of the Mountains 2002. The Award was presented by the Cervignano del Friuli Giusto Gervasutti Department of the Italian Alpine Association. Read More…
Point of view: the enlightened Olympics-free Alps
The referendum decisions against "Munich 2022" and "Graubünden 2022" prove that the Olympic spirit is dead. Simply not everyone has yet noticed. Read More…
Salmon coming to the Rhine
From the Atlantic to the Alps: by 2020 the Rhine will once again be a home to salmon. These migratory fish will then be able to swim unhindered all the way to Basel -short-term by unconventional means where necessary. Read More…
Oh...!
… the new silver bullet aimed at reviving the ailing winter tourism sector comes in the form of so-called "Downhill Bubbles". Read More…
NGOs demand participation in the Alpine macro-region
Observer organisations of the Alpine Convention are bewildered at their exclusion from the Alpine macro-region. They are demanding their inclusion in the ongoing process for a macro-regional Alpine strategy. Read More…
