Alps / Europe

To mark its 50th anniversary CIPRA, the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps, produced a film about the Alps and of course the Commission's own activities.

Services for the elderly and the accessibility of accommodation by the disabled are the two key issues of a seminar at Feltre in Italy on July 2. The seminar is being held as part of the Interreg IIIA Programme Montagna Accessibile (Mountains Within Reach) of the Belluno Province and the Federal Province of Tyrol/A.

The Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) has posted a new German and French internet page at www.alpenonline.ch , to help mountaineers plan their tours.

In future all new properties built in Zermatt/CH must have a principal residence share of 30%. This measure is designed to prevent Zermatt becoming a ghost town during the off-season.

How many vascular plants make up the flora of the Alps? What do they look like? What is their correct designation? What species are annual, perennial or xyloid? When do they flower? Where can they be found? What ecology characterises the individual species? The answers to these and other questions can all be found in Flora alpina, a new publication in three volumes that covers all the flowering plants and ferns of the entire alpine region, from Vienna to Nice, from valley floor to eternal snow.

The Ford Environment Award of the Austrian Umbrella Organisation for the Environment and the Ford Motor Company Austria rewards with a total of €16,000.00 the three best initiatives for the protection of the country's natural and cultural heritage.

The "Fire across the Alps" event aims to send a glowing message on behalf of alpine policy in 2004, too. The emphasis this year is on alpine protected areas. Other "pot burners" include transit traffic and local issues. The fires also symbolise the solidarity between alpine countries and regions.

An agreement on plant genetic resources is to come into force in nine EU member states on 29 June, with only Germany featuring among alpine countries. The agreement is designed to secure the use of gene pools and free access to seed stocks and propagating materials for key agricultural crops.

The French mountain organisation Montanea is organising an international conference on "Cities in the Mountains" together with the Alpe magazine. It is to be held at the Chambéry Conference Centre on 29 June. Admission is free. The registration deadline is 22 June. The conference will offer simultaneous interpretation in French, German and Italian.

At a meeting in Switzerland the transport ministers of alpine countries underlined their commitment to improve road safety in cross-alpine HGV traffic in a joint and concerted effort adapted to the needs of the alpine countries, and to bolster the policy of transporting HGV traffic by rail. The meeting was attended by representatives from Germany, France, Italy, Austria and the EU Commission.