Articles
Northern Limestone Alps: Involving local population
In the three provinces of Upper and Lower Austria and Styria interviews with 170 stakeholders were held. People were asked about their knowledge, experience and ideas concerning the connectivity of habitats and possible barriers by using a questionnaire. These interviews aimed at receiving an overview of opinions on this theme as well as information on planned or ongoing projects dealing with ecological connectivity in the region.
Isère Department: Tearing down the barriers
The French Isère Pilot Region is very active in the field of ecological connectivity. Besides ECONNECT, since February 2009 the region is engaged in another EU Project named "Paths of life". This project will last six years and has a budget of nine million Euro.
Austria: pressure caused by exploitation rose at the highest altitudes
All across Austria the tendency to build cableways and other skiing infrastructures inside the boundaries of protected areas and other high-value zones can be observed. The Austrian Alpine Club (OeAV) warns against the destruction of landscape and recreational resources in the Alps and demands a framework for a well-balanced territorial planning, in order to preserve the typical Alpine landscape.
New compacts on Transport and Spatial Planning now online
The assessments of climate response measures for the areas of Transport and Spatial Planning have been available online since the end of February. Both background reports (or "compacts") can be downloaded from www.cipra.org/en/cc.alps (de, en).
Regions tackle climate change
The participants at the start-up meeting for a transnational LEADER project held in Mäder/A on 20 and 21 January 2010 went one step further. The 20 or so representatives from five interested project regions in different Alpine countries met up with CIPRA staff in Vorarlberg to get to know one another and come up with a joint project design.
CIPRA actively involved in the transfer of know-how
Several events have been scheduled as part of the cc.alps project in 2010. At a workshop entitled "Building with a Future" to be held in Bolzano/I on 22 and 23 April following a field trip, participants from towns and municipalities are to exchange views on energy-efficient construction. For more information visit www.cipra.org/de/alpmedia/veranstaltungen (de/it/sl).
Communities committed to an improved climate
The international climate conference entitled "Municipalities and the climate - Putting mitigation measures to the test" was held in Mäder/A on 21 and 22 January. Around 130 participants from all the Alpine states responded to the invitation of the Alliance in the Alps network of municipalities and CIPRA International to discuss sustainable climate response measures.
cc.alps on the international climate stage
In 2009 the cc.alps project team attended a wide range of international events where it presented the results of the project.
"Cool heads in the hothouse!": Interview with a cc.alps award winner
"Everyone wants to do their bit!" On 6 November 2008 CIPRA rewarded the seven best measures submitted to the cc.alps competition. The Oberallgäu municipality of Wildpoldsried/D won one of the three main prizes for its activities in the area of energy efficiency. Andrea Skiba from the cc.alps team spoke to the Mayor of Wildpoldsried, Arno Zengerle, about their success.
Energy-efficient Alpine communities and Alpine towns
At the end of February the Vorarlberg communities of Langenegg, Mäder and Zwischenwasser received the European Energy Award® (eea) - Gold. These communities spearhead the international award for energy-efficient communities, which evaluates some 600 towns and communities across Europe.
Green light for deer and lynx in the Alpine-Carpathian Corridor
In future, wild animals will be able to move more easily between the Alps and the adjoining Carpathian Mountains. That is the objective of the recently initiated cross-border project Alpine-Carpathian Corridor. The EU is providing approximately 2 million Euros for it.
The new CIPRA compacts Traffic and Spatial Planning are on-line
The results of the climate protection measures taken in the areas of 'Traffic' and 'Spatial Planning' are now accessible on-line. At www.cipra.org/en/cc.alps (de/en) both of the background reports - so-called 'CIPRA compacts' - 'Traffic and Climate Change' and 'Spatial Planning and Climate Change' can be downloaded.
Restoring the web of life: a new brochure designed to help you understand ecological networks
What is an ecological network? How can you create one and who does it involve? What are their roles? These are just some of the questions to which the recently published brochure Restoring the web of life: ecological network for more biodiversity in the Alps provides answers.
Conference searching solutions to adapt to climate change
The Berchtesgaden National Park and the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC) organised an international conference on ecological networks and climate change. The conference "Alpine Ecological Network: a response to climate change that will preserve biodiversity?" took place in Berchtesgaden, Germany, on 15th and 16th October 2009.
International workshop on connectivity methods
More than 80 experts from all over Europe followed the invitation by the ECONNECT project to share and compare their individual experiences of fieldwork and innovative research methods regarding ecological connectivity in Grenoble, France, from the 4th to 6th of October 2009.
ECONNECT Project – Working full speed for implementing ecological networks
The ECONNECT project has completed half time of its project life. In the pilot regions the teams are highly committed with preparing the implementation of ecological networks on the ground.
Fourth meeting of the Platform
The Ecological Network Platform of the Alpine Convention held its fourth meeting on 1st December 2009 in Chamonix, France. The French Presidency presented the Platform work programme for the next two years.
Updated brochure and new eye-catcher posters on ecological networks in the Alps
Just in time for the International Year of Biodiversity, the Ecological Continuum Initiative has printed an updated version of the brochure on Ecological Networks in the Alps. With a new design, the brochure "Restoring the web of life - Ecological networks for more biodiversity in the Alps" illustrates the ecological connectivity topic and makes it understandable to a wide public.
Think tank: Bundling the Alps-wide expertise on ecological networks
As the Continuum Initiative decided to focus on further connectivity activities with long-term issues, the Continuum partners are now aiming at the preparation of follow-up projects beyond ECONNECT to ensure that the fundaments built up during this project can be used for further concerted implementation projects.
The Ecological Continuum Initiative in the International Year of Biodiversity
The International Year of Biodiversity, declared by the United Nations, represents even more encouragement for the Ecological Continuum Initiative to further develop its activities in preventing biodiversity loss in the Alps.
Harnessing expertise for ecological networks in the Alps
The Ecological Continuum Initiative has brought international experts together as part of a think tank whose long-term objective is to setup up an alpine-wide ecological network. The think tank provides the experts from the fields of science and practice with a framework for developing new projects to complement and follow up on existing activities such as the ECONNECT project.
How do people perceive food products from European mountain regions?
The EuroMarc project looked at this very question from February 2007 to January 2010 and it has now published its findings. Ten teams carried out surveys among consumers, retailers and local initiatives in six European countries (France, Norway, Austria, Romania, Scotland and Slovenia).
Keeping water-related projects flowing - Awards for a precious resource
Two awards are now up for grabs for projects in the water sector. The International ReSource Award for Sustainable Watershed Management aims to promote innovative projects with regional measures aimed at protecting water as a resource. The Award is open to projects that have a pioneering character in the local context (cultural, institutional or technological).
Publication: mountains and climate change
The English-language Mountains and Climate Change was published recently and focused on mountains around the world and the effects of climate change. It documents the latest findings on climate change in the mountains of the world and its impact on water, glaciers, natural hazards, biodiversity, food security and migration.
Global warming increases frequency and extent of flood catastrophes in the Alps
In an article published in the magazine Geophysical Research Letters researchers at Italy's Politecnico University in Turin recently confirmed that more frequent and more extensive floods in mountain areas were one of the consequences of global warming.
Low-carbon travel from the UK to the ski slopes
Taking the train from London to go skiing in Sestriere/I sounds like a nightmare scenario. But, as a new specialist website proves, it's not. For a number of weeks now, avid skiers can go to www.snowcarbon.co.uk/ (en) to find the most convenient train journeys to take them from London/UK to the Alps or the Pyrenees to go skiing.
Turin/I: Olympic sports facilities left to waste away
Since the close of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin many of the sports facilities and installations have been left abandoned. The five ski jumps in Pragelato, for example, for which the building costs exceeded 34 million Euros, are now closed off and unused.
Warmest decade for at least 130 years
The last ten years will go on record as by far the warmest in the alpine region since systematic records began. In Germany even the "cool" year 2004 with an average temperature of 9.0 degrees centigrade was well above the climatological mean for Germany, at 8.2 degrees.
Hiking right across the Alps
The recently published book Via Alpina - 2500 kilometres from one coast to another (Via Alpina - 2'500 kilomètres d'une mer à l'autre) recounts the adventure of crossing the entire Alpine range. In 2007 Vincent Tornay followed the Via Alpina Red Trail for a total of 119 days in search of the people and landscapes that make up the Alps of today. He covered 2500 km and 124,000 metres of difference in altitude as he hiked through the eight Alpine states, from the Adriatic coastline to Monaco.
Tourism in mountain areas put to the test
The new December 2009 issue of Revue de géographie alpine / Journal of alpine research looks at mountain tourism and sustainability. Six articles examine the sustainability of current practices in tourism and take a closer look at the experience gained with sustainable tourism.