Europe’s Alps under threat from hordes

Press, 23 January 1988, Page 38

Europe’s Alps under threat from hordes

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington

The Alps — those in Switzerland and not New Zealand’s — have become “the most threatened mountain system in the world,” says an international group of mountain experts who have been meeting in France under the umbrella of the International Union for the Conservative of Nature and Natural Resources (1.U.C.N.). The experts drew particular attention to forest death, the decline of agricultural and mountain

communities, excessive pressure from tourists, unacceptable levels of road traffic, and air and water pollution. All these were affecting to various degrees the fauna and flora and the natural habitats of Alpine regions, according to the meeting’s chairman, Mr Frederic Briand, who is responsible for the I.U.C.N.’s science programmes. He said it was the cumulative effect of these various stresses that worried the experts and now made the Alps the most threatened mountain

system in the world. The experts called for immediate action to improve the situation. They made four specific recommendations: — • More effective legislation, including the elaboration of an Alpine Convention. • A better application of the legislation and communication systems. • Greater co-ordination of research and programmes to implement decisions; and • More effective international co-operation and better communication of scientific knowledge

aimed at both the users of the Alps and the people making the decisions about them. Mr Alan McKenzie, of New Zealand’s Nature Conservation Council said there was a lot New Zealand could learn from the meeting, although the situation with the’ Southern Alps was nothing like as advanced as in Europe. One problem New Zealand does not have. Mr Briand said one of the chief obstacles had been the language barrier among the Alpine countries.