Articles
Point of view: Protecting the Alps – the responsibility of people
The diversity of the Alps is a challenge that at the same time holds great potential. It is up to the new German presidency of the Alpine Convention to put this into effect, states Federica Corrado, President of CIPRA Italy.
Ill-timed winter tourism developments throughout the Alps
Despite rising temperatures and doubts about profitability, some Alpine regions are building new winter sports facilities. But who will pay the bill?
Signal fires against transit traffic
Transit traffic over the main Alpine crossings is steadily increasing. Projects such as a second tube for the Gotthard road tunnel are increasing the attractiveness of road transport for goods. This year’s CIPRA action, “Fire across the Alps”, takes aim at this trend.
Ski tourism: an insatiable hunger
Gigantic artificial lakes, myriads of snow cannons, secret forest clearances. Ski areas are continuing to expand in all Alpine countries, often using questionable methods and concepts. Below are three examples.
Italy threatens to grind to a halt
The Gotthard rail tunnel is due to open in 2016, with the aim of transporting the majority of goods between Italy and Switzerland by train. But the necessary infrastructure is lacking in Italy. Will the result be traffic chaos?
National parks remove exotic fish species
Collecting what was released into the wild fifty years ago is the order of the day in the Gran Paradiso and Triglav National Parks, where the fish species introduced have had serious effects on the natural environment.
CIPRA's Annual Conference: "The Alps as a Water Trough"
The "blue gold" of the Alps is limited in quantity and thus in high demand for use as drinking water, snow or electricity. At its Annual Conference in Bozen/Bolzano in October 2013, CIPRA will be asking who has the right to this elixir of life and who has responsibility for it.
End of the line for the Tende railway?
New tunnels crossing the Alps are feverishly being built elsewhere, but the Tende line between Turin and Nice is due to be closed. People on both sides of the border are protesting, however. Can this historic railway line still be saved?
Claire Simon takes up post as CIPRA Executive Director
CIPRA International is getting a new Executive Director. Claire Simon, 35, holds dual French-German nationality and is the first woman in 60 years to lead the organisation. Nor is that the only first.
Lecco opens Alpine Town Year
Lecco, the capital of the province of the same name, has this year been selected as the "Alpine Town of the Year 2013". The opening ceremony took place at the beginning of April and the initiatives for the Alpine Town Year were briefly presented.
“Fact-finding trips like Climalp are some of my favourite assignments”
CIPRA communicates in four languages of the Alps and also in English. The resulting translation load is handled by several translators and interpreters. Reinhold Ferrari is one of them.
Bolzano sent the proposal for FP7-Smartcities-2013
The participation to the FP7 call for proposals might represent an opportunity to further enhance the activities of Bolzano towards carbon neutrality.
Climate action plan of Bressanone
With beginning of 2013 the city of Bressanone (20.000 inhabitants, located northern Italy in the Alps) will issue its climate action plan.
Valtellina Valley toward carbon neutrality by 2050
Considering its typically alpine features, FLA identified Valtellina Valley as the ideal region where to cultivate the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. Starting from a preliminary analysis to identify the most critical sectors in terms of carbon emissions, FLA undertook two pilot actions relating to transport and energy issues.
CIPRA's point of view:Italian French Summit: modal shift gets red light
The summit meeting last week between Italian leader Mario Monti and French president François Hollande covered plenty of ground - except for a rapid and effective modal shift from road to rail.
Out for gigantic Brenner wind farm
It was supposed to have been the highest wind farm in the Alps. Now a court has revoked the building permit for the wind turbines on the Sattelberg Mountain - referring also to the Alpine Convention in the grounds for its decision.
The northern bald ibis - welcome back to the wild!
Jazu is back. Last autumn he became the first wild northern bald ibis for 400 years to leave his breeding ground near Burghausen, Bavaria: in summer he found his own way back from Tuscany.
CIPRA's point of view: Torino 2006: a hard lesson - but nothing learned
The Olympic Winter Games 2006 have left a burdensome legacy. The idea is thus to close the loss-making bobsleigh and replace it with an indoor ski slope. Is Turin simply throwing good money after bad?
Oh! ...
… the bears in Trentino have finally gone too far.
CIPRA's point of view: Alpine Convention: Italy says yes but Switzerland still says no
Italy, surprisingly, has ratified eight of nine protocols of the Alpine Convention. Only Switzerland has yet to sign up. We do not need the protocols, stated the Swiss Federal Council recently - Swiss policy is, in its view, more sustainable than in any other Alpine country.
International support for campaign against Brenner wind farm
With its planned wind farm on the Brenner Pass, Italy is breaching the Alpine Convention, according to the Club Arc Alpin, which has petitioned the Alpine Convention's committee of inquiry. For the first time in the history of the convention, "complaint proceedings" have begun.
International support for campaign against Brenner wind farm
With its planned wind farm on the Brenner Pass, Italy is breaching the Alpine Convention, according to the Club Arc Alpin, which has petitioned the Alpine Convention's committee of inquiry. For the first time in the history of the convention, "complaint proceedings" have begun.
Bruin is back!
The number of bears in the province of Trento has grown, while the damage they cause has fallen significantly, states the report on bears in the province. But not all is well for Bruin and friends.
Swiss-Italian cooperation in favor of ecological connectivity
During the last Alpine Conference in March 2011 the Alpine Convention officially nominated 8 pilot regions for ecological connectivity in the Alps.
Lyon-Turin: Environment Ministry gives bad marks
Criticism of the planned Lyon-Turin rail line is growing: environmental organisations have rejected the megaproject, as has the conservative UMP party in Savoy. The French Environment Ministry is now also expressing doubts.
Climate plan for South Tyrol
The Province of Bolzano wants to become more energy efficient by 2050. Every inhabitant of the Province currently produces around five tonnes of carbon dioxide. The aim is to cut that figure to a mere 1.5 tonnes over the next forty years.
Respite for the "king of the Alpine rivers"
It looks like no gravel is to be extracted from the Tagliamento for the time being. The company that was planning to extract more than a million cubic metres of ballast between Cimano/I and the Arzino tributary has withdrawn its project.
The bear's about!
Clearly the big omnivore feels at home in the Trentino/I. A total of 27 bears were counted there last year, compared with a mere three or four in the 1990s. Meanwhile ten Slovenian bears have settled in the Adamello-Brenta Nature Park as part of the "Life Ursus" campaign.
Fragmentation of Stelvio National Park management
A committee composed of members of the Italian government, the region Lombardy and the automous provinces of Trento and Bolzano has decided that the Stelvio national park/I should be run directly by local authorities. It foresees that the park will be managed by the Autonomous Provinces of Trento and Bolzano and the Region Lombardy, in collaboration with the municipalities concerned. According to WWF Italy, this could lead to an unnecessary and potentially damaging administrational fragmentation of the Park.
The shreds of Turin
Mountain regions are footing the bill for the Winter Olympics - the Winter Olympics bring fame and glory and an economic revival to the regions. For a fortnight. Leaving behind an oversized infrastructure, debts and empty beds. That, in a nutshell, is Turin four years after the 20th Olympic Winter Games.