Articles
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Traditional nature conservation in crisis
The European Union is pushing for better implementation of its biodiversity strategy. At the same time protected areas in the Alps are being broken up, weakened or downgraded. Where is the problem?
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Strange but true...
Alpine glaciers are a skiing venue in the middle of summer, they supply villages and towns with drinking water and even provide a habitat for glacier fleas.
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Better protection for Alpine rivers
A European legal ruling has strengthened the protection of Alpine rivers. Derogations for hydro plants or snow-making facilities are now more difficult to obtain. The politicians are up in arms.
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No pardon for crimes against the environment
Damaging the environment in Italy can henceforth be punished with a jail term of up to fifteen years. Environmental legislation was also a concern of CIPRA co-founder Wolfgang Burhenne. A biography is now dedicated to him.
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Crying wolf?
The protected status of the wolf is being ever more vehemently called into question. French sheep farmers have fuelled the debate further by taking hostages. Those living in the mountains meanwhile remain divided.
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Victory for landscape protection
The controversial application to build a wind farm on the Sattelberg near the Brenner Pass was rejected in a final appeal heard by the Italian Council of State in Rome.
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How much protection for protected areas?
The Alps are a bastion of biodiversity, a function that will become even more important in the future as rising temperatures endanger the survival of many species at lower altitudes.
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Getting the modal shift moving
Austria gives the green light for the construction of a controversial rail tunnel. At the same time, the Swiss Federal Office for Transport has published two reports that suggest that the modal shift of goods onto rail can succeed even without large infrastructure projects.
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Initiating change for a good life in the Alps
What does it take to ensure a good life in the Alps? What social and political changes are necessary? Answers will be provided at the annual CIPRA Conference to be held on 25 and 26 September 2015 in Ruggell, Liechtenstein.
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The real treasure of the Alps
A Swiss energy producer is to receive a prize for finding a successful compromise between the protection and use of water: while the head of the Upper Allgäu district authority has approved the building of a small power plant in a protected area over the head of his own officials. Two examples of the tension existing between conservation and the energy transition.