Cluster: Science

Course of Rhone to be altered after flood disasters

This content was published on Dec 2, 2000 The project is not simply a matter of bolstering existing defences. It aims to widen the river to minimise the risk of flooding, and to encourage nature to flourish. It will take the canton several years to absorb the cost of October’s disaster. More than SFr 500 million worth of damage was done to waterways,…

Climate solutions

Defence issues dominate Ogi visit to Berlin

This content was published on Nov 29, 2000 Ogi’s talks with the German defence minister, Rudolf Scharping, focused primarily on the European Union’s planned rapid reaction force. In his capacity as defence minister, Ogi said Switzerland would not contribute to the EU force, but did not rule out participation in the future. He stressed that Switzerland was committed to preserving peace in Europe,…

Climate solutions

Aletsch bids to become first Swiss natural site on World Heritage list

This content was published on Nov 23, 2000 As the train pulls into Brig, in canton Valais, I tug on my walking shoes and check in my backpack to make sure I have brought water and enough warm clothing. People stream out of the station and I follow the flow to another train that will take me on a 30-minute journey to the…

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Gondo residents rebuild, and ponder the safety of their village

This content was published on Oct 28, 2000 In the tiny community of Gondo, the clean up operation is well underway following the disastrous mudslide that wiped out the centre of the village and killed thirteen of its inhabitants. But for many residents of Gondo, the fact that such a catastrophe could have happened at all is still difficult to believe. ‘I looked…

Climate solutions

Alpine experts call for urgent regeneration of forests

This content was published on Oct 26, 2000 The experts, meeting in Maienfeld, canton Berne, said action was needed immediately to regenerate alpine forests and that they would be drafting a resolution to that effect. Key threats to forests were identified as pollution – specifically the emission of harmful gases – and populations of game. Peter Greminger, spokesman for the Swiss Environment Ministry,…

Climate solutions

East and West cooperating on research for nature

This content was published on Oct 25, 2000 Experts at the symposium said studies of virgin landscapes in Eastern Europe, which only became accessible to western researchers after the end of the Cold War, had highlighted how nature was often ‘over-managed’ in the west. Reinhard Lässig, a scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, which organised the meeting,…

Climate solutions

New project aims to create ideal alpine environment

This content was published on Oct 25, 2000 The study coincides with warnings that the alpine environment is under threat from global warming, and hopes to determine how mountain areas can respond to the climatic changes. Entitled “Landscapes and habitats of the Alps”, it aims to find ways of creating a sustainable alpine environment, in the face of powerful social, economic and political…

Climate solutions

Out & About in Switzerland: Below the surface of Goldau Zoo

This content was published on Oct 25, 2000 Visitors looking through large windows below the “Blue Pond” have the chance to observe cormorants diving for food or metre-long pike searching for prey. The 15,000 square metre pond is one of the largest natural habitats for water birds found in any zoo. It was formed during a tremendous landslide in 1806 that completely altered…

Climate solutions

Discovering Basel’s natural beauty

This content was published on Oct 23, 2000 Walking along the river Rhine, Daniel Küry stops in his tracks and points to the ground. This reporter would have probably just passed by, but things look different to the trained eye of the ecologist. “This lilac bellflower can only live in natural grasslands which are not fertilized”, says Küry, bending down to examine the…

Climate solutions

Wear silk to help endangered species

This content was published on Oct 21, 2000 Fabric Frontline has designed a tie and a scarf imprinted with a tiger and has promised the WWF a percentage of the sales. Fabric Frontline has been one of Switzerland’s most famous luxury brands for the past 20 years. It was set up by Andi Stutz and his two sisters and is now a byword…

Cluster: Science

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