Tourism flights in Mountain regions

The use of helicopters and aeroplanes for tourism purposes spoil the attractiveness of mountain regions through noise pollution. It also undermines the ethical basis for many mountain activities. Read our position paper on tourism flights here.

Ski resort threatens national park in Serbia

The development of a large ski resort in Serbia is threatening the flora and fauna of the country’s largest national park.
The Association for the Conservation and Sustainable Development of Stara Planina is protesting against the construction of the new ski resort inside the Stara Planina National Park. They say that the construction is in violati on of six Serbian laws as well as international environmental conventions signed by Serbia. The UIAA supports local organisations in their protests.

You can find a photo gallery with pictures of the park and the construction work here.

Stara Planina Nature Park is the largest protected area in Serbia and is meant to have the highest level of protection. It was declared a nature park in 1997, in order to protect the natural and geological heritage, gene pool, rare species and ecosystem diversity of Serbia and the Balkan Peninsula. In the park there are mountain peat meadows, one of the rarest and most vulnerable ecosystems in the world. The park is also the home of many rare species which are meant to be under government protection. This includes the rare flower Winged Bell, which was only discovered 16 years ago and has near been made extinct by the building work. Nine plant species which grows in Stara Planina are on the IUCN Red List of threatened species. There are also rare birds and mammals in the park, including the very near extinct Snow Vole. learn more...

Ski Resort in Rila National Park, Bulgaria

If you visit Rila national park, Bulgaria you will not only see its beautiful lakes and the highest mountain of the Balkans. Big machines are now digging into the landscape, turning wild nature into a ski resort.

Bulgarian nature conservation organisations have united under the name “Let nature remain in Bulgaria” to stop the development. They claim that the investors are pressuring the government to ignore environmental protection and let them build a large scale ski resort with 21 slopes. The resort would cover 240 hectares, two-thirds of which would be inside the National Park.

Latest developments:  On Monday 21 Jan the World Wildlife Fund submitted a position paper on behalf of eight international NGOs, including the UIAA, to four Bulgarian Institutions (Parliament Chairman, Parliamentary Commission on Environment and Water, Ministry of the Environment and the State Forest Agency).  Read more at the WWF web site

On Wednesday, Jan 23, Citizens for Rila and an NGO coalition organised a march in Sofia. This was done to mark that one year had passed since they submitted  50 000 signatures in support of a petition titled "So that Nature remains in Bulgaria". People were dressed as mountain climbers, skiers and tourists and carried head torches .‘We carry headlights to bring light to Bulgarian authorities, who often seem to make deals in the dark”, said Tsvetan Kosturkov, one of the organisers.   Learn more and see pictures from the event here

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