A breeze of change at Mountain Wilderness

On April 4 and 5, the presidents of the national sections of Mountain Wilderness got together at the Gelinotte de Freydières (near Grenoble), hosted by Frédi Meignan (president of MW France) to share their experiences and discuss how the regions could better work together on common actions. Global environmental issues affecting mountains around the world were addressed and Mountain Wilderness programs were examined from this perspective

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The first half-day was devoted to sharing local experiences. The down jackets were necessary throughout the meeting as a heavy snowfall covering the ground with 50 cm caused a total power outage in the region. But despite this and the language barriers, in-depth and informative exchanges took place. In the evening, the electricity returned, which allowed the participants to have a good dinner in the French tradition as well as a warm musical evening with a band of three presidents playing guitar and piano.

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During the second half-day, a list of potential areas of joint activities was defined, including: climate change actions (extension of the French “Roped for Climate” programme to Switzerland, Italy and possibly Catalonia; an increased support to biodiversity: a feasibility study to export the Swiss “Wildniss” programme to other countries and a joint effort to address issues to register mountain sites at the UNESCO’s global heritage, starting with a Franco-Italian effort on the Dolomites and Mont-Blanc.
In the short term, a “Roped for Climate” event will be organised in Bardonecchia (15 June) during the extraordinary meeting of Mountain Wilderness International.

Stay tuned…

(BM)