Alps / Europe

Italy's Environment Minister presented the Mountains in the Mediterranean Region Project at the IUCN Congress held in Bangkok from 17 to 25 November.

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.

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.

Storm damage does not pose a threat to the long-term conservation of Switzerland's forests; rather it contributes to forest renewal and promotes biodiversity.

The Ibex Label is to be used to certify Swiss hotel establishments which excel through particularly sustainable and social management. Depending on achievements one to five of these Ibexes are to be awarded by the Association for Economy, Ecology and Society.

The "Biodiversität in der Schweiz" (Biodiversity in Switzerland) study published by the Biodiversity Forum Switzerland has concluded that genetic diversity and biodiversity are more at risk in Switzerland than in most other European countries.

A study published in early October on the external costs of transport in the EU, Switzerland and Norway by the research institutes IWW (Karlsruhe/D) and Infras (Zurich/CH) shows that the transport system in Germany causes some €150 bn in health and environmental costs each year.

More and more migratory birds are falling prey to night-time lighting conditions as they fly south. A closed cover of low-lying fog such as the one that prevailed over large areas of Switzerland in mid-October seriously disrupts the migratory birds' ability to orientate themselves; combined with towns and villages that are brightly lit at night it can represent a death trap for the birds.

December 11 is to be celebrated worldwide as International Mountain Day. This year the main focus of interest is the overriding significance of peace for sustainable development.

According to the Swiss Federal Office for Transport total costs of Switzerland's "New Alps Transversal Route" (NEAT) are likely to be CHF 302 m higher than calculated in the summer, due essentially to geological fault zones, uncertainties about the planned route and costly rail securing techniques.