Articles
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Snowcats and man-made snow as a threat to plant diversity
The number of plant species growing on mountain slopes used for ski trails in Switzerland is eleven percent lower than on adjoining sites. The reduction is especially striking in the case of woody and early flowering plants.
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Conference to mark the 70th anniversary of Passo Stelvio National Park
This year marks the seventieth anniversary of Passo Stelvio National Park in Italy. To celebrate the occasion the management of the National Park is organising a big weekend event with three scientific conferences on 8-11 September 2005.
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New EU project: AlpNaTour
The Interreg IIIB AlpNaTour Project has been up and running since the start of this year. The Project focuses on practical ways of integrating recreation and tourism concerns in management planning processes of Natura 2000 sites. The Project is to provide a guideline and checklists for the management of Natura 2000 sites influenced by the economic interests of tourism and recreation.
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New Master of Science Programme on the Management of Protected Areas
The University of Klagenfurt/A has created a new study programme on the subject of the Management of Protected Areas. The two-year course in English is to be launched in September 2005. While the first semester focuses on theoretical and scientific foundations, the second and third semesters look at practical aspects of the management of protected areas.
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Environmental risk assessment partly abolished in Austria
On March 2 Austria's Lower House of Parliament, the National Council, adopted a number of key changes to the statutory basis of environmental risk assessments. Under the amendment mandatory environmental risk assessments have been waived for specific projects (construction of or modifications to leisure and recreation parks, sports stadiums, etc.).
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Network of forestry experts for the alpine region
On 16 February representatives of 19 forestry agencies from seven alpine countries launched the Interreg IIIB Project "KnowForAlp" in Vaduz/FL. KnowForAlp is an alpine-wide network for forest owners and foresters whose aim is to enable a comprehensive exchange and transfer of know-how.
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Research on the economic significance of the landscape
What is the monetary value of the Alpine landscape for the resident populations and tourists? This question was studied in the framework of Swiss National Research Programme NFP48 "Landscapes and Living Spaces in the Alps".
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Major climate change as a threat to the flora and fauna
A new study published by WWF International addresses the threat of rapid climate change and its impacts on the flora and fauna. For many species, the natural mechanisms of adaptation are no longer capable of coping with the sheer speed of change.
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2005 Swiss Mountain Water Award launched
The Governmental Conference of Alpine Cantons (GCAC) has launched the Swiss Mountain Water Award, which is endowed with a total of CHF 50,000. The objective of the competition is to initiate and promote practical water projects capable of making a substantial contribution to increased net output in the mountain areas of Switzerland in commercial, ecological, social and/or institutional terms.
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Artificial high water affects ecology of running water
A new WWF study shows that the artificial high-water (surges) and low-water (sinks) caused daily by hydraulic power plants are having disastrous repercussions on the ecosystem of running water.
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