Nature protection organisations, Alpine clubs, nature parks and initiatives for sustainable traffic policies: CIPRA represents some one hundred such organisations, contained in the eight national and regional agencies of CIPRA, for example in Slovenia or in France. CIPRA today is thus one of the most important networks in the Alps.
CIPRA, the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps, was formed on 5 May 1952 in Rottach-Egern on the Tegernsee Lake in Germany, with the aim of promoting co-operation in environmental protection between the Alpine countries. Even at that time, CIPRA was demanding an international agreement for sustainable development in the Alps. In 1991 it achieved its aim with the signing of the Alpine Convention. Today CIPRA substantially contributes to making sure that this international agreement is no mere paper tiger and that its abstract thoughts are translated into real actions. An example is the European Union Alpstar project, which implements one of the demands of the climate action plan contained in the Alpine Agreement, i.e. that the Alps should become a carbon-neutral area.
Sixty years after its creation, CIPRA now connects people, projects and organisations across linguistic, cultural, geographical and political borders. "Our projects encourage other stakeholders to implement their own projects", says Dominik Siegrist, president of CIPRA. "This common networked exchange will also play an important role in the future". The aim is that life for future generations in the Alps is attractive and will remain so.
CIPRA will be celebrating 60 years of existence with its members and companions at the Tegernsee Lake on 5 May 2012, with various events being held in all Alpine states during the course of this anniversary year.
Source and further information:
www.cipra.org/en/CIPRA, www.cipra.org/de/CIPRA/cipra-international (de), www.cipra.org/en/CIPRA/cipra-international, www.cipra.org/en/CIPRA/cipra-international