Welcome to the fifth edition of the Virtual Montana Newsletter. This is the last edition of the Newsletter to be produced within the Virtual Montana Project funding period. We hope to continue producing the newsletter and welcome submission of contributions for future issues.
Official Launch of the International Journal of Fieldwork Studies
The new International Journal of Fieldwork Studies was officially launched at Liverpool Hope University College on Friday 7th February. This electronic peer reviewed journal focusses on different types of theoretical studies and empirical approaches associated with fieldwork. The first edition included contributions from France, Germany, India, USA and UK.
The submission date for contributions to the next edition, due for publication in September 2003, has been extended to Friday 18th April. Authors can submit papers or obtain more information by emailing IJFSeditor@hope.ac.uk.
The first edition of the journal
and notes for authors can be found on the Journal web site at http://www.virtualmontana.org/ejournal
Seminar on European Community Policy and Mountains
The agenda and more detailed
information are available on the website: http://europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/events/mountains/index_en.htm
For further information, please visit the website:
http://www.mountains2002.org/media.html
or http://europa.eu.int/comm/regional_policy/newsroom/index_en.htm
Mountain Partnership launched at Johannesburg
At the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg South Africa, a number of governments, United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations agreed to work in partnership to address the most pressing issues affecting mountain ecosystems and mountain communities.
At the Summit, the International Partnership for Sustainable Development in Mountain Regions was launched by FAO together with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Government of Switzerland, acting on behalf of the 15 member countries of the International Year of Mountains Focus Group.
High Stakes: the future for mountain societies
This is a report which outlines the issues facing mountain people and examines the ways forward during the International Year of Mountains and beyond. The report is available at: http://www.panos.org.uk/environment/high_stakes_mountain_societies.htm
Internet Radio Programmes - Mountain Lives
Radio Features from Interworld, available online at http://www.interworldradio.org - include:
Mexico's Chiapas Highlands:
The Weaver's Tale
http://www.interworldradio.org/audio/rad_show1.cfm?aud_i_id=251568&mode=feature_detail
Mexico's Chiapas Highlands:
A Sense of Place
http://www.interworldradio.org/audio/rad_show1.cfm?aud_i_id=251562&mode=feature_detail
An Appalachian Tragedy ?
http://www.interworldradio.org/audio/rad_show1.cfm?aud_i_id=247226&mode=feature_detail
The Appalachians: A Sense
of Place
http://www.interworldradio.org/audio/rad_show1.cfm?aud_i_id=248853&mode=feature_detail
The Appalachians: Seeds of
the Future
http://www.interworldradio.org/audio/rad_show1.cfm?aud_i_id=249547&mode=feature_detail
The Mountains of Lesotho:
A Sense of Place (Part 1)
http://www.interworldradio.org/audio/rad_show1.cfm?aud_i_id=249548&mode=feature_detail
The Mountains of Lesotho:
A Sense of Place (Part 2)
http://www.interworldradio.org/audio/rad_show1.cfm?aud_i_id=249549&mode=feature_detail
The Himalayas: The Cow Herder's
story
http://www.interworldradio.org/audio/rad_show1.cfm?aud_i_id=249550&mode=feature_detail
The Himalayas: Tigress of
the Snow
http://www.interworldradio.org/audio/rad_show1.cfm?aud_i_id=249551&mode=feature_detail
(NB: With real audio player you can listen to the features directly from http://www.interworldradio.org/audio/disp_feature.cfm )
Tourism Perspectives in Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park
Today there are eight tourist tracks located within the park territory. These tracks can accept about 450 tourists each day. During only the four-month tourist season, the National Park can accept 55,680 tourists. With a successful advertising campaign, the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park could receive up to 300,000 tourists in the next 5 years.
The developments in 2003/4 include marketing and promotion activities, tourism training program, product improvement activities, and the support of local tourism. It is hoped that tourism development of the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park will bring about a lot of good to the local population. After developing the tourist infrastructure, the local population will get an opportunity to get jobs in the hotel business, family hotels will be established, restaurants and other tourist facilities.
There are a number of high-mountainous resorts, including Bakuriani, Shovi and Bakhmaro.
Environmental protection in Bosnia and Herzogovena (first published Mountain Forum October 1 2002)
The unusual system of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina makes environmental protection difficult, and non-governmental organisations also face many obstacles, but some NGOs are still trying to make a difference.
Since the 1995 peace agreement
officially separated Bosnia and Herzegovina into two entities - the Federation
of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska - the responsibility for
environmental protection has also been divided. Although the environment
ministries of the two entities have agreed to work together, thus far
the cooperation has been limited. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
is further divided into 10 cantons, which have much autonomy, so environmental
protection responsibilities in that entity are even further fragmented.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has beautiful natural treasures, including jagged peaks and other unusual landscapes. Unfortunately, only 0.55 percent of the total area of the country is protected. The largest protected areas are Sutjeska and Kozara national parks and the Blidinje and Hutovo blato nature parks.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has an urgent need to defend its natural resources in an efficient and organised way. After the destruction of the recent war, it might be logical to expect that the people would work together to help heal the country's wounded natural beauty. But the environment apparently has a low priority with officials, and short-sighted profiteers and vandals are being allowed to do further damage to the land.
It seems clear that environmental protection cannot be left exclusively to the entities, cantons and local communities. Without a coherent, countrywide environmental policy, like the kind found elsewhere around the world, Bosnia and Herzegovina is more vulnerable.
The lack of environmental laws, and the poor economic state of the country, have also made it hard for environmental NGOs to do their work.
There are at least 130 environmental NGOs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and these organisations' work is especially important, given the weakness of environmental enforcement from the government.
But there are limited resources for NGOs, and they must struggle to survive.
In spite of these problems, environmental NGO's are making efforts to protect nature, and have had some successes in last few years: NGOs helped prevent construction of a power plant on the Neretva River and prevent construction of mini power plants on the Una River; NGOs supported revitalisation of the Sutjeska National Park; NGOs have driven initiatives to found Igman- Bjelasnica Nature Park and Prenj-Cvrsnica-Cabulja National Park; they have also undertaken many clean-up actions, deforestation, educational projects and publishing activities.
For further information, please contact: Edin Abadzik, Fondeko [fondeko@bih.net.ba]
Journees de l'Alpage de Megeve 25-26 et 27 avril 2003
Les Sociétés d'Economie Alpestre de Haute-Savoie et de Savoie, en collaboration avec la Commune de Megève, organisent les 4èmes « JOURNEES DE L'ALPAGE » les 25-26 et 27 avril 2003. L'organisation du Concours Spécial National de la Race Abondance sera l'un des temps forts de ces journées.
Pour tous renseignements (Information):
Société d'Economie Alpestre de la Haute-Savoie
B 625 - DDAF - Cité Administrative - 74040 ANNECY cedex
tél: 04 50 88 41 85 - fax: 04 50 88 43 88
email: sea74@echoalp.com Web: http://www.echoalp.com
2002 was International Year of the Mountains
The United Nations declared 2002 the International Year of Mountains to increase awareness of the need to protect fragile mountain ecosystems and improve the well-being of mountain people, many of whom are among the world's most impoverished and food insecure.
The complete article is at: http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/focus/2002/1202_iym.htm
In August 2003, Schaan/FL will be the venue for CIPRA-International's sixth Summer Academy. The three-week programme is designed to offer a full picture of the Alpine space with all its problems and potential.
The course focuses on the Alps as a region that transcends national borders. The programme covers a wide range of subjects, including geography, cultural studies, spatial planning, tourism, energy, transport and wildlife, as well as climate change and EU policy. The faculty appointed for the Academy have a combination of university, institutional and private sector backgrounds. Teaching will take the form of lectures, group working and excursions. German and French have been chosen as the course languages for 2003, and simultaneous translation will be provided. Students will have numerous opportunities - both in and out of class - to make contact and discuss with people from different countries.
In the framework of the Academy there will also be a three-day focus seminar that will be open to everyone with an interest in the subject selected for 2003, namely "Agriculture, Forestry and Biodiversity". Agriculture and forestry play a decisive role in shaping the face of the Alps and thus the living space for Alpine fauna and flora. In the three days of the seminar the focus will be on the great responsibility this entails for biodiversity in the Alps. There will be sessions devoted to such subjects as the changing Alpine landscape, and the problems and potential of agriculture and forestry, and their impacts on biodiversity. A number of successful projects leading to increased biodiversity will also be presented.
Information, programme and registration: http://www.cipra.org
The Mountain Forest Project foundation (Bergwaldprojekt) runs work camps for members of the general public aged between 18 and 88. Since 1987 more than 10,000 volunteers, both male and female, have carried out many different kinds of work in the forest under the supervision of qualified foresters.
The Mountain Forest Project organises 60 project weeks in Switzerland, Germany and Austria from March to November in order to preserve the endangered ecosystem. Volunteers carry out practical work in the forest, and by doing so they get to know the mountain forest ecosystem, and at the same time contribute actively to its conservation.
The goals:
- Experience the fascinating life of the mountain forest.
- Find out how the endangered ecosystem works.
- Make an active contribution to maintaining the many and varied protective
and productive functions of the mountain forest.
- Enjoy learning and working with others in the team.
- Take on responsibility for our environment.
No specialist knowledge of forestry is needed. The Mountain Forest Project foundation provides accommodation, food and accident insurance during work. Volunteers must bear the travel costs to and from the project site.
Each project week begins on Sunday evening with an introduction to the week in the forest. From Monday to Friday volunteers work under forestry instructions. During the week a range of useful forestry jobs are carried out, in order to ensure that the forest experience is interesting and varied. Working in a mountain forest is usually strenuous and not altogether safe. However, qualified support and leisure activities at work sites make it possible to allocate work according to volunteers' capabilities. The work may differ from that indicated in the programme, because the forestry work deemed to be most useful is only decided shortly before the beginning of the project. For each project week a forestry excursion, lasting at least for half a day, is planned. The day of departure is Saturday.
To find out more: Stiftung
Bergwaldprojekt, Casa Mesaglina, Hautpstrasse 24, CH-7014 Trin, Switzerland
phone +41 (0)81 630 41 45 fax + 41 (0)81 630 41 47
email: info@bergwaldprojekt.ch
Web: http://www.bergwaldprojekt.ch
The issue of using artificial and natural snow has been in the news. Snow-gun sales figures for 2002/3 indicate there's been a run on this high-tech equipment. In the early 90s Switzerland's National Research Programme NFP 31 on the climate and tourism had shown that by 2050 only 63% of skiing areas would be able to guarantee snow, compared with 85% at present, a finding that applies likewise to Austria and Bavaria. A current study by Graz University (Austria) shows that by 2050 no less than half the ski resorts in Austria will have to contend with a lack of snow. One main reason is the comparatively low altitude.
The cost of installing and maintaining snow guns will certainly weigh heavily in the accounts of small cable-car companies in medium-altitude mountain regions in particular. Absurdly the run on snow guns has become a vicious circle. The argument goes that artificial snow-making installations have to be installed because all the international neighbours have been doing it.
Meanwhile public-sector funding is slowly drying up. In response there are more and more requests in France demanding that the production of artificial snow should be declared a "public service". According to figures released by the French Institute for Mountain Tourism (Service d'études et d'aménagement touristique de la montagne, SEATM), French skiing regions invested EUR 46 m in artificial snow production in 2002, 24% up on the previous year. In addition EUR 25 m was spent setting up water storage basins and slope levelling. The SEATM has forecast that the total surface area requiring artificial snow over the next ten years is set to triple.
Source: http://www.tourisme.gouv.fr/pdf/bilaninvestissements2001.pdf
RGS/IBG Conference: Mountain Research Group
Session title: Rural development
in Upland Landscapes, Environment, People, Constraints and Opportunities
RGS-IBG Annual Conference, Royal Geographical Society, London, 3-5 September
2003
contact: Dr. Rhys Evans [RGRG], rhys.evans@abdn.ac.uk, Web http://www.abdn.ac.uk/arkleton/
Publications
ETFRN News 38: Sustainable
Development of Mountain Forests
The ETFRN News is published three times a year by the European Tropical
Forest Research Network (ETFRN). It is available online to find out more
email: etfrn@iac.agro.nl.
Mountain Agenda 2002:
Mountains of the World – Sustainable Development in Mountain Areas
– The need for adequate Policies and Instruments.
To order: Mountain Agenda, Center for Development and Environment, Steigerhubelstrasse
3, 3008 Berne, Suisse
E-mail: cde@giub.unibe.ch
Mountain law publication: Most countries have not yet adopted mountain-specific laws, preferring to focus on the protection and development of mountains through existing sectoral legislation.
However, a few countries such as France, Georgia, Italy, Russian Federation (North Ossetia-Alania), Switzerland and Ukraine, have enacted legal instruments dealing specifically with mountains, and other countries are in the process of developing similar legislation. These converging efforts seem to signal an emerging trend towards a progressive increase in mountain law-making in the years to come. This publication looks at the development of mountain legislation. The first part broadly describes the main elements of mountain-specific legal texts, first in the international sphere, then at the domestic level.
The second part of the publication contains six short case studies from countries where legislation on mountains has been passed or are proposed.
For further information please visit the following website: http://www.fao.org/icatalog/inter-e.htm
L'écotourisme
dans les Alpes: visitez le site internet:
http://www.alpmedia.net/d/index3.asp?dossier_detail.asp?DossierID=43&Sprache=3|2|navi.asp?2|1
Contact: Alpmedia Un service de la CIPRA, http://www.cipra.org
More Mountain Web Links
African
Mountain Forum
Asian
Monsoon Climate Forum
Bishkek
Mountain Platform
Cairngorms
National Park, Scotland
Carpathian
Foundation
Celebrating
Mountain Women
Crans Montana Forum
Eco-Agro-Tourism
in South Caucasus
Environmental
Protection in South Eastern Europe
Equaterre Association
(French)
European Association
of Elected representatives from Mountain Areas
European
Eco-Forum - Towards Kiev
European Mountain
Forum
European
Tourism Forum
Internet
reduces abonment of mountain areas
Life
Programme 2001 report (French)
Metsovion Interdisciplinary
Research Centre (M.I.R.C.) - protection and development of mountainous
environment and local European cultures
Morroccan
Mountains ecological concerns
Mountain
Culture at The Banff Centre Media
Mountain Voices
Website
Mountain Wilderness,
France
Pyrénées
Passion (French)
Romanian
Gold Project
Transport
in Austrian Mountains
World Commission on
Dams
World Mountain
People Association
Vulnerability and carrying
capacity of alpine areas in Eastern Sudeten
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This list contains a selection of Geography and Mountain related events taking place over the next three months. For more details and listings for 2003 please visit the Events page. |
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| Date | 23-25 April 2003 |
| Event | GA Conference 'Valuing Geography' |
| Date | 25-27 April 2003 |
| Event | Journees de l'Alpage de Megeve |
| Date | 26-28 April 2003 |
| Event | The IGU CGE Conference 'Geography and Citizenship Education: Research Perspectives' |
| Date | 20-24 May 2003 |
| Event | World Environmental Education Congress |
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Contributions to future issues
If you would like to contribute to a future issue of the Virtual Montana Newsletter we would be pleased to receive articles, news items, reviews and details of forthcoming events. To send a contribution or for further details please email virtualmontana@hope.ac.uk.
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©Virtual
Montana 2003
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