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New EU project: AlpNaTour
The Interreg IIIB AlpNaTour Project has been up and running since the start of this year. The Project focuses on practical ways of integrating recreation and tourism concerns in management planning processes of Natura 2000 sites. The Project is to provide a guideline and checklists for the management of Natura 2000 sites influenced by the economic interests of tourism and recreation.
News
International
Nature, Tourism & Leisure
Japan: Many skiing regions on verge of bankruptcy
Japan's winter resorts are in crisis. Since the boom years in the early 1990s the number of winter sports enthusiasts has dropped by more than a third. Even on weekends where snow is abundant many of the lifts remain closed. One ski resort in two is on the verge of bankruptcy. And yet in recent years only 4 out of a total of 722 ski areas have closed down; this is because Japanese legislation requires that, in the event of closure, operators dismantle the lift facilities and restore the ski slopes.
News
International
Tourism & Leisure
Rolex rewards the spirit of enterprise
The Rolex Awards are for outstanding initiatives in relation with the environment, cultural heritage, science and medicine, technology and innovation as well as research and discovery.
News
International
People
Austria in Bid for Alpine Convention Water Protocol
The main areas of focus of Austria's chairmanship of the Alpine Convention have now been defined. At a press conference held in Innsbruck/A on 18 March Environment Minister Josef Pröll outlined Austria's programme. According to Mr Pröll Austria is to focus on adopting a Water Protocol, addressing transport issues and completing the Progress Report on the state of the Alps.
News
Austria, International
Mobility & Transport
The Alps as a wellness region - New EU project
January 2005 saw the launch of the Alpshealthcomp Project aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of the alpine region as a health and wellness destination. The partners of Alpshealthcomp, a project of the EU Community Initiative Interreg IIIB Alpine Space Programme, come from Italy, Austria and Germany, the project itself being endowed with around one million euros.
News
Italy, International, Austria, Germany
Tourism & Leisure, People
New Master of Science Programme on the Management of Protected Areas
The University of Klagenfurt/A has created a new study programme on the subject of the Management of Protected Areas. The two-year course in English is to be launched in September 2005. While the first semester focuses on theoretical and scientific foundations, the second and third semesters look at practical aspects of the management of protected areas.
News
Austria, International
Nature, People
Environmental risk assessment partly abolished in Austria
On March 2 Austria's Lower House of Parliament, the National Council, adopted a number of key changes to the statutory basis of environmental risk assessments. Under the amendment mandatory environmental risk assessments have been waived for specific projects (construction of or modifications to leisure and recreation parks, sports stadiums, etc.).
News
Austria, International
Nature
State subsidies for regional products compatible with EU law
Buying products from the region strengthens regional economic cycles and is kinder on the climate. However there has been some debate within the EU whether the subsidising of regional products by members state governments actually obstructed the European single market.
News
International
Economy, Spatial development
Turin Winter Olympics 2006: Government to fill financial gap
Less than one year before the start of the 2006 Winter Olympics uncertainty still prevails as to how to fill the financial gap of around €180 m that has resulted from a lack of revenue. Moreover the internal disputes within the Games' Organising Committee that have now been going on for several months have reached a new high with the forced resignations of both the Chairman and his deputy.
News
Italy, International
Tourism & Leisure
Network of forestry experts for the alpine region
On 16 February representatives of 19 forestry agencies from seven alpine countries launched the Interreg IIIB Project "KnowForAlp" in Vaduz/FL. KnowForAlp is an alpine-wide network for forest owners and foresters whose aim is to enable a comprehensive exchange and transfer of know-how.
News
International
Forest
Mistletoe area boundaries on the ascendant
Scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research have found specimens of mistletoe at altitudes of up to 1500 m. It was previously thought that in Switzerland mistletoe grew only in areas below 1000 m above sea level.
News
Switzerland, International
Climate
Research on the economic significance of the landscape
What is the monetary value of the Alpine landscape for the resident populations and tourists? This question was studied in the framework of Swiss National Research Programme NFP48 "Landscapes and Living Spaces in the Alps".
News
Switzerland, International
Nature, Tourism & Leisure
New publication on mountain sports in the Alps
Mountain sports in the Alps are the focus of the latest English/French publication in the series "Revue de Géographie Alpine/Journal of Alpine Research", which contains five essays from the fields of cultural geography, tourism economy, and sport- and ethno-sociology. Thomas Bieger examines the patterns of demand on the traditional Swiss winter travel market and concludes that while the number of winter sports has greatly increased, demand is concentrated on just a few offers.
News
International
Tourism & Leisure
2005 international conference on development in rural mountain areas
From 1 - 3 September 2005 the Italian RURALIA association is holding a two-day conference in the Piedmont entitled "Architecture and Landscape in Rural Mountain Areas and their Social and Economic Development". The objective of the conference is to consider proposals for saving villages from decline and rehabilitating rural buildings for new uses.
News
Italy, International
People
Green energy in Austria
Things are looking good for green energy in Austria. In the region of Lower Austria, for example, 2004 saw the construction of more biomass heating plants, biogas digesters and wind power plants than ever before. Today about seven percent of the electricity generated in Lower Austria is a product of wind, biomass or biogas.
News
Austria, International
Energy
Record investments in French winter sport areas
In 2004 France's winter sport resorts invested 348 million euros - more than ever before - in refurbishment and upgrade measures. In the last ten years, such investments have increased by about 200 percent compared with only 50 percent for ski area turnover. The number of skier days per season is now stagnating at 63 million.
News
France, International
Tourism & Leisure, Economy
Major climate change as a threat to the flora and fauna
A new study published by WWF International addresses the threat of rapid climate change and its impacts on the flora and fauna. For many species, the natural mechanisms of adaptation are no longer capable of coping with the sheer speed of change.
News
International
Climate, Nature, People
South Tyrol: energy-efficient house construction now mandatory
On 12 January a new regulation on climate-friendly house construction took effect in South Tyrol. According to the provisions of this Climate House Ordinance, the Provincial Office for Air and Noise must issue a climate pass for all new housing in South Tyrol showing the buildings' energy classification and thermal heat requirements.
News
South Tyrol, Italy, International
Spatial development, Energy
2005 Swiss Mountain Water Award launched
The Governmental Conference of Alpine Cantons (GCAC) has launched the Swiss Mountain Water Award, which is endowed with a total of CHF 50,000. The objective of the competition is to initiate and promote practical water projects capable of making a substantial contribution to increased net output in the mountain areas of Switzerland in commercial, ecological, social and/or institutional terms.
News
Switzerland, International
Water
CIPRA conference on cities in the Alpine space
CIPRA's annual conference will be held in Brig/CH on 22 - 24 September. The subject of the 2005 conference is Alpine cities and their role as sustainability actors, with a focus on the following main aspects: - design, management and optimization of relations between Alpine cities and the surrounding areas; - networking, alliances and enhanced co-operation and synergies among Alpine cities to achieve effective positioning in the face of competition from other European locations.
News
Switzerland, International
Spatial development
Increased heavy goods traffic on the Brenner route
In 2004 more than fifty percent fewer trucks were carried by the RoLa piggyback services on the Brenner railway than in the previous year. Whereas 140,000 HGVs used the rail link in 2003, the figure for 2004 was a mere 60,000. In contrast, truck traffic on the Brenner motorway increased by a monthly average of twenty percent (in the period January to October).
News
Austria, International, South Tyrol, Italy
Mobility & Transport
Satellite handsets for Scotland's first mountain museum
If two Scottish visitor centres have their way, tourists in the Highlands will soon be walking about with hand-held computers. That will help turn Schiehallion Mountain into a dedicated mountain museum, and Helmsdale will become a centre for Scottish gold-panning tours. The postcard-sized computers employ a technology that is similar to the GPS system to be found in modern cars, and they are programmed like traditional museum audio guides.
News
International
Tourism & Leisure, People
53rd "Città di Trento" Mountain Film Festival
The 53rd "Città di Trento" Mountain Film Festival is being held from 30 April to 8 May 2005. The festival is devoted to mountain, research and adventure films, with "Arctic & Antarctic - North Pole & South Pole" as the theme selected for 2005.
News
South Tyrol, Italy, International
People
Artificial high water affects ecology of running water
A new WWF study shows that the artificial high-water (surges) and low-water (sinks) caused daily by hydraulic power plants are having disastrous repercussions on the ecosystem of running water.
News
Switzerland, International
Water, Nature, Energy, People
From vegetable plots to supermarkets: land consumption in France
The French association for regional planning and rural development has recently published a white paper on the subject of land consumption as a result of urbanisation, entitled "The End of the Landscape?". More and more arable land is being built up with residential buildings and industrial parks, and land consumption is progressing at an alarming pace.
News
International, France
Spatial development, Nature
Mount Everest put forward for UNESCO World Heritage in Danger List
The Mount Everest region is at risk from global warming and should therefore be included on the UNESCO's World Heritage in Danger List. Mountaineers and representatives of the environmental group Friends of the Earth submitted a petition to the UNESCO Committee at the end of November.
News
International
Nature, Soil quality
Deregulation of public services accentuates regional polarisation in Switzerland's alpine regions
A new study by the Swiss National Research Programme NFP 48 entitled Landscapes and Habitats of the Alps has shown that the deregulation of public services has accentuated inequalities between centres and peripheries in alpine regions.
News
Economy
Mountains in the Mediterranean Region Project presented at the IUCN Congress
Italy's Environment Minister presented the Mountains in the Mediterranean Region Project at the IUCN Congress held in Bangkok from 17 to 25 November.
News
France, International, Italy
Soil quality, Nature
8th Alpine ministerial meeting: mixed results
At the 8th Alpine Conference held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen/D on 16 November the Environment Ministers of the alpine states were unable to reach agreement on drawing up a legally binding "Population and Culture" protocol for the Alpine Convention. In the area of transport however the alpine states intend to set a new direction.
News
Germany, International
People, Mobility & Transport
Glaciers melting faster than anticipated
A new study by Zurich University using satellite images to analyse the surface area of 930 glaciers has shown that Switzerland's glaciers lost around 18% of their surface area between 1985 and 2000.
News
Switzerland, International
Soil quality, Climate