Showing papers in "Mountain Research and Development in 2005"

The Karakoram Anomaly? Glacier Expansion and the `Elevation Effect,' Karakoram Himalaya

Abstract: In the late 1990s widespread evidence of glacier expansion was found in the central Karakoram, in contrast to a worldwide decline of mountain glaciers. The expansions were almost exclusively in glacier basins from the highest parts of the range and developed quickly after decades of decline. Exceptional numbers of glacier surges were also reported. Unfortunately, there has been no on-going measurement of climatic or glaciological variables at these elevations. The present article examines possible explanations for this seemingly anomalous behavior, using evidence from short-term monitoring programs, low-altitude weather stations, and the distinctive environmental characteristics of the region. The latter involve interactions between regional air mass climatology, its seasonality, topoclimate or ‘verticality’ effects on glaciers with extreme altitudinal range, climatic sensitivities of heavy versus thin supraglacial debris, and complex temperature distributions in ice masses with ice falls through...

The Implications of Changes in Population, Land Use, and Land Management for Surface Runoff in the Upper Nile Basin Area of Ethiopia

Abstract: Much concern has been raised about population increase in the highlands of Ethiopia and its potential to decrease runoff from the upper Nile Basin to the lowland countries of Sudan and Egypt. The present article examines long-term data on population, land use, land management, rainfall, and surface runoff rates from small test plots (30 m2) and micro-catchments (73–673 ha) in the highlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Although the data were generated only on small areas, the results of the analyses can nevertheless be used to draw some conclusions relevant to the highland–lowland water controversies that have persisted in this particular region for many decades. The data indicate that there have been no significant trends over the long term in total annual rainfall in the highlands over the past 30–50 years. Nevertheless, test plot surface runoff rates are clearly influenced by land use and soil degradation, and hence by population density and duration of agriculture. In effect there is 5–30 times mo...

Transformation of a Rural Landscape in the Eastern Pyrenees Between 1953 and 2000

Abstract: In the mid-20th century, the southern parts of the Madres and Mont Coronat massif (Eastern Pyrenees, France) were characterized by a Mediterranean landscape shaped by human activity. Long-term use of these mountains for crops, livestock, and forestry led to an increase in grassland areas at the expense of forest. However, socioeconomic transformation (abandonment of agriculture and a decrease in the rural population) in recent decades has caused profound changes in this massif. Interpretation of aerial photographs (1953, 1969, 1988, and 2000) made it possible to detect and analyze the changes produced in the study area (6787 ha) during this period. In 1953 most of the massif landscape consisted of grasslands (38%) and open forests (18%), with some areas of dense forest (15%). By 2000, dense forest cover had doubled in size (31%), and grassland had decreased considerably (by 73% of the initial area). Since 1953, the study area has become more homogeneous, with a few local exceptions. The results of this study suggest that socioeconomic factors might be the main cause of landscape transformations in this period of approximately 50 years.

Impact of Grazing Livestock and Distance from Water Source on Soil Fertility in Southern Mongolia

Abstract: The impact of livestock grazing on soil nutrients and vegetation parameters was studied in dry montane steppes of southern Mongolia in order to assess the risk of habitat degradation. Data were collected along transects radiating away from permanent water sources. Dung unit density counts revealed gradients of livestock activity, but utilization belts around water sources overlapped, indicating that pastoral land use affects the entire landscape. Dung unit counts corresponded to gradients in soil nutrient parameters (C, N, P), which significantly decreased with distance from the wells. However, no significant correlation was observed for plant species richness and vegetation composition with distance from water source. This indicates that soil parameters and livestock grazing exert a relatively smaller influence on the vegetation than the high inter-annual variability in precipitation. Therefore, the ecosystem at the study site was found to react in a non-equilibrium way, which suggests that the risk of degradation is low, at least insofar as plant community composition is concerned.

Climate Change from 1960 to 2000 in the Lancang River Valley, China

Abstract: Archival data of monthly air temperature and precipitation series were used to investigate climate change trends and characteristics during 1960–2000 at 19 stations along Lancang River from the north to the south, in the mountainous Himalayan region of southwest China. The magnitude of a trend was estimated using Sen's Nonparametric Estimator of Slope approach. The station significance of a trend was assessed by the MK test. Over the observation period of 41 years, mean annual air temperature increased at the rate of 0.01°C/yr to 0.04°C/yr in 12 stations at the significance level α = 0.01. The changes in precipitation in different areas are very dissimilar and complex. Mean annual precipitation that decreased from −2.86mm/yr to −5.29mm/yr at 3 stations, and mean annual precipitation that increased from 5.77mm/yr and 7.44mm/yr at 2 stations, were statistically significant at the significance level α = 0.05. The lower reaches of Lancang River experienced much more severe temperature increase, preci...

Paying for Biodiversity Conservation Services

Abstract: One of the most important reasons for the degradation of biodiversity, in mountain areas and elsewhere, is that the people who make land use decisions often receive few or no benefits from biodiversity conservation. Understandably, therefore, they generally ignore potential biodiversity benefits when choosing land use practices. The end result is that biodiversity is often lost, as are many other off-site benefits such as the regulation of hydrological flows. Efforts to enhance biodiversity conservation need to take account of the constraints faced by individual land users, who decide what practices to adopt on their land. Over the years, a variety of efforts have been made to boost the profitability of biodiversity-friendly practices for land users, with mixed results. A further approach, which has received increasing attention in recent years, is to provide direct payments for the provision of environmental services such as biodiversity conservation. The simple logic of Payments for Environmental Services (PES) is that compensating land users for the environmental services a given land use provides, makes them more likely to choose that land use rather than another. The Regional Integrated Silvopastoral Ecosystem Management Project, which is being implemented by the World Bank with financing from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), is piloting the use of PES as a means of generating biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration services in watersheds at three sites in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua.

Mountains and Biocultural Diversity

Abstract: The importance of montane regions for biological diversity is well known. We also know that mountains contain a great deal of cultural diversity, despite the relatively small number of people living in mountains compared to other regions. What has been less explored is the interrelationship between mountains, biological diversity, and cultural diversity. The study of biocultural diversity involves a search for patterns across landscapes. As an inherently spatial phenomenon, biocultural diversity can readily be explored through the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Our research has resulted in the development of a global database and map noting the linkage between high linguistic diversity and high plant diversity in montane regions throughout the world. In the present paper we focus mainly on the island of New Guinea to illustrate how important mountains are for biocultural diversity. The implications of this research for identifying areas in need of conservation and development stra...

The Role of Communities in Closed Area Management in Ethiopia

Abstract: Much of the Earth is degraded, is being degraded, or is at risk of degradation. Dry Afromontane forests in Ethiopia are one of the ecosystems affected by this phenomenon. This study focuses on assessment of community perceptions of experiences with, and benefits from, enclosure practices meant to prevent or mitigate land degradation. Communities around Biyo-Kelala and Tiya enclosure areas, in central and northern Ethiopia respectively, were used for the study. The assessment was carried out on the basis of a semi-structured questionnaire survey and focus group discussions. Results showed that an overwhelming majority of the people have a positive attitude about enclosures and feel that they have gained benefits. However, people prefer not to ensure private ownership, but favor maintaining the existing communal (village level) management system instead. This demonstrates that groups emerge to manage common property when they live close to the resource. Yet the issue of benefits and their equitable...

The Relationship Between Bird Communities and Habitat: A Study Along a Trekking Corridor in the Sikkim Himalaya

Abstract: To assess the impact of habitat disturbance on birds in the Yuksom–Dzongri trekking corridor in western Sikkim, India, the relationships between bird community attributes—including migratory groups and feeding guilds—and vegetation variables were examined. Birds were observed in 19 100-m-long transects, 3 times per season per transect, for 2 seasons from 1997 to 1998 and 1998 to 1999, in an area where forests are subject to various degrees of pressure from human disturbances. Closed canopy forests with relatively undisturbed habitat showed significant variation in habitat attributes, suggesting complexity of habitat structure. Bird species richness and diversity were significantly related to moderately disturbed habitats represented by Principal Component Analysis (PCA), where vegetation heterogeneity (vertical stratification and species composition) was greater. Analysis by migratory groups did not show an interpretable relationship with the habitats, except for the seasonal movements of migrato...

A Typology of Economic Agents in the Himalayan Plant Trade

Abstract: Hundreds of plant species are harvested in the Himalaya and traded at local, regional, and international levels. Recent studies indicate that the annual trade in medicinal plants and related products from the Himalaya amounts to thousands of tons of roots, rhizomes, tubers, fruits, leaves, etc, with an annual value of millions of USD. It is difficult, however, to analyze and understand trade and markets on the basis of available studies, as these do not employ common terminology or methodology. The present paper aims to enhance understanding of the Himalayan plant trade by developing a typology of economic agents. The typology is based on fieldwork conducted in Nepal and India, including interviews with 639 harvesters, 149 traders and 143 wholesalers involved in trade with medicinal plants. These are the 3 main groups of economic agents distinguished. They are further divided into 6 sub-types and 13 specific types. Distinction among economic agents is made on the basis of key features. Basic data on agents are presented. The typology is developed to be applicable across the countries in the Himalayan range.

Assessing and Managing Scarce Tropical Mountain Water Resources The Case of Mount Kenya and the Semiarid Upper Ewaso Ng'iro Basin

Abstract: Mountains play a crucial role in the supply of freshwater to humankind, in highland and lowland areas alike. Increas- ing demand urgently requires careful management of mountain water resources in order to mitigate growing water crises and conflicts. Monitored river flow was analyzed for 3 selected catchments (Timau, Burguret, and Likii) on the slopes of Mount Kenya from 1960 to 2004. In the 10 years from 1995 to 2004, the extreme low flow (Q95) of the rivers was found to have been reduced to 10%, 23%, and 71%, respectively, of the values for the decade from 1961 to 1970. Water awareness creation campaigns in 1997 and 2004 revealed that the number of abstraction points had more than doubled, and that there was a two- to eightfold increase in the amount of river water abstracted. The present article documents increasing water abstraction and the difficulties in establishing limits for low flows such as the Q80 value (flow available on 80% of the days per year). The article also presents the role of Water Users' Associations (WUAs) in mitigating water conflicts related to over-abstraction. Evaluation of the activities of 13 WUAs showed that they solved 45 of 52 conflicts. WUAs are also involved in activities such as environmental education, awareness creation, improved irrigation practices, afforestation, and regulating water. The recent restructuring of the government ministry resulted in a formalized role for WUAs. Long-term data on availability, abstraction, and use of water are needed to mitigate water conflicts within and between WUAs, negotiate water allocation, and establish allocation thresholds.

Between Conservation and Development Concretizing the First World Natural Heritage Site in the Alps Through Participatory Processes

Abstract: This article presents an empirical interdisciplinary study of an extensive participatory process that was carried out in 2004 in the recently established World Natural Heritage Site “Jungfrau–Aletsch–Bietschhorn” in the Swiss Alps. The study used qualitative and quantitative empirical methods of social science to address the question of success factors in establishing and concretizing a World Heritage Site. Current international scientific and policy debates agree that the most important success factors in defining pathways for nature conservation and protection are: linking development and conservation, involving multiple stakeholders, and applying participatory approaches. The results of the study indicate that linking development and conservation implies the need to extend the reach of negotiations beyond the area of conservation, and to develop both a regional perspective and a focus on sustainable regional development. In the process, regional and local stakeholders are less concerned with d...

River water shortage in a highland-lowland system: A case study of the impacts of water abstraction in the Mount Kenya Region

Abstract: In the past decade, water shortage on the western and northern slopes of Mount Kenya and particularly in the adjoining lowland areas has reached a severity not experienced before. Rapid population growth and rising demand for irrigation are increasing the pressure on water resources, as can be demonstrated by an inventory of water abstractions from the Naro Moru River. A total of 98 abstraction points were documented within a river section of only 30 km, providing water to about 30,000 people. However, about 97% of the abstracted water is used for irrigation of 9% of the total catchment area. In 2002, about 30% of the annual discharge and 80 to 100% of the low flow discharge of the Naro Moru River was abstracted by furrows, gravity pipes, and pumps. The highland–lowland system of the Upper Ewaso Ng'iro Basin, with Mount Kenya functioning as a crucial water tower, has reached and repeatedly exceeded the limits of water availability in the past decade. In contrast to the heavily decreasing low flow...

ICIMOD's Transboundary Biodiversity Management Initiative in the Hindu Kush–Himalayas

Abstract: Together with its partners and regional member countries, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is committed to a shared vision of prosperous and secure mountain communities committed to peace, equity, and environmental sustainability. This vision statement defines ICIMOD’s overall goal: secure and sustainable livelihoods for mountain peoples. Building on achievements, competencies, and lessons that the Centre and its partners have learned over the two preceding decades, ICIMOD’s contribution is based on its role as a regional “Mountain Learning and Knowledge Centre.” ICIMOD is mandated to work in the Hindu Kush–Himalayan (HKH) region, including the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. ICIMOD’s mission is to develop and provide integrated and innovative solutions—in cooperation with national, regional, and international partners—which foster action and change to overcome mountain peoples’ economic, social, and physical vulnerability. Solutions are found by identifying, testing, and disseminating options. This mission is translated into outcomes by analyzing the causes of poverty and vulnerability in the mountains. These differ in significant ways from those found in the plains surrounding the HKH. They are also based on experience with mountain development to date, especially in the areas of greatest opportunity for achieving measurable impact. In overall congruence with the relevant portion of the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the Bishkek Global Mountain Summit Declaration, ICIMOD’s strategy has identified 5 long-term outcomes that it is committed to help achieve. These are: 1. Productive and sustainable community-based management of vulnerable mountain natural resources; 2. Decreased physical vulnerability within watershed and regional river basins; 3. Improved and diversified incomes for vulnerable rural and marginalized mountain peoples; 4. Increased regional and local conservation of mountain biological and cultural heritages; and 5. Greater voice, influence, social security, and equity for mountain people.

Knowledge for Sustainable Development in the Tajik Pamir Mountains

Abstract: Initiating a process of informed decision-making for sustainable development requires the following: a) the values and objectives to be pursued need to be negotiated among all concerned stakeholders of a specific territorial unit; b) these stakeholders should have access to a comparable level of knowledge; and c) the decisions taken and the subsequent actions initiated should have a positive impact on all dimensions of sustainability. In the remote Tajik Pamir mountains, a special effort was made to fulfill the above 3 principles by developing and applying a new methodological approach to sustainable development. The paper presents the results of a multi-year baseline study project in which 10 sectors ranging from agriculture to natural hazards were assessed by a transdisciplinary Swiss–Tajik research team. This knowledge base was enhanced in a development strategy workshop that brought together stakeholders from the local to the international levels. The methodology applied was found appropriate...

Enhancing Farm Tree Diversity as a Means of Conserving Landscape-based Biodiversity

Abstract: The appropriateness of targeting conservation landscapes that include biodiversity sanctuaries within a matrix of agricultural and other land uses is being increasingly recognized as a method for achieving both biodiversity conservation and livelihood improvement. An assessment of on-farm tree diversity in the Kigezi Highlands in a transect from Kabale town to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in southwestern Uganda reveals the current contribution of farming systems to landscape tree diversity and raises questions about various constraints and opportunities for enhancing the role of agroforestry in landscape-based biodiversity conservation.

Market Shocks and Climate Variability: The Coffee Crisis in Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras

Abstract: As a result of a dramatic decline in world coffee prices and the restructuring of both domestic and international institutions, coffee farmers have been facing one of the most difficult periods in sector history. In 2003, a comparative case study project (supported by the Small Grant Program of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research) in Guatemala, Mexico and Honduras explored the experiences and responses of coffee farmers to institutional reforms, market risk, and climate variability. Four communities were selected for study in the 3 countries in which household surveys and interviews were conducted. The impacts of the crisis and farmers' responses illustrate the potential obstacles that farmers confront with sudden and profound changes in production conditions, yet also suggest opportunities for interventions that might help farmers improve their resilience to future risk.

Addressing the Needs of Nepalese Migrant Workers in Nepal and in Delhi, India

Abstract: International labor migration is an increasingly important livelihood strategy in Nepal. There is little documentation of the movements of migrant workers or of their remittances. It is estimated that Nepalese migrants send remittances equivalent to about one quarter of Nepal's gross national product. Migrants and their families lack information about safe migration procedures, host countries, their rights as migrants, and awareness about HIV/AIDS. The present article examines two projects that address these migrants' needs in their home country and in one destination. The first project is a Nepal-wide radio program based in Kathmandu that provides information on migration issues. The second is a community outreach project based in Delhi, India, focusing on education of migrants.

Adapting to Climate Change in a Dryland Mountain Environment in Kenya

Abstract: Global warming is likely to lead to a variety of changes in local climatic conditions, including potential increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events such as drought, floods, and storms. Present capacity to respond to and manage climatic variability, including extreme events, is an important component of adjustments to climatic changes. In particular, identifying and addressing constraints on local adaptation mechanisms—whether political, economic or social in nature—is critical to developing effective adaptation policies. The drylands of Kenya present great survival challenges to the people living in these areas. The hilltops in the drylands provide favorable climate and resources for adapting to climate change. The present paper examines the role that one particular hilltop, Endau in Kitui District, eastern Kenya, plays in processes of local adaptation to climatic variability and drought. The project presented here investigated how conflict and exclusion from key hillto...

Participatory Planning for Biodiversity Conservation in the High Tropical Andes: Are Farmers Interested?

Abstract: The success of participatory conservation projects depends greatly on the interest shown by the local population and on the strategies used to incorporate all stakeholders from the initial stages. In the highly diverse region of the tropical Andean paramos, threats to ecosystem integrity come mainly from agriculture and cattle grazing. Approaches to biodiversity conservation have often been based on top-down regulations imposed by government agencies. The implementation of an alternative approach, incorporating local communities in the design of action plans for conservation, was the central objective during the design phase of the Andean Paramo Project. These plans will be executed in a network of key pilot sites along the South American paramos. Here we report on experience at the two Venezuelan sites, where the design process involved a series of participatory workshops. The multidisciplinary nature of the facilitation team was essential in addressing the complex links between biodiversity con...

Policy Options to Support Transhumance and Biodiversity in European Mountains: A Report on the TRANSHUMOUNT Stakeholder Workshop, Landquart/Zurich, Switzerland, 26–28 May 2004

Abstract: Policy recommendations were developed in May 2004 in Switzerland within the framework of the European Union Accompanying Measure “TRANSHUMOUNT: A review of the role of transhumance in mountain ecosystem processes and dynamics” (EU 5th framework EVK2–CT–2002– 80017). Transhumance—the seasonal oscillatory movement of livestock—is a very diverse practice. In some countries, it is mostly historical, whereas in others it is still very much alive. Common features are its flexibility, its complexity, and the utilization of complementarities in space (between habitats/landscapes) and time (between seasons). Transhumance links high mountain habitats with agricultural land in the valleys and in some cases adjacent lowlands. These elements together must be seen as a comprehensive system. Throughout Europe, more than 4 million ha of agricultural land depend on transhumance. Many valuable cultural landscapes, rural communities, habitats, and species are directly linked to transhumance and are vital for tourism in mountain regions. The functioning of transhumance is threatened by modern pressures such as industrialization of agriculture and globalization, and by the difficulty of reconciling the demands of transhumance with a modern lifestyle. New ways must be found to maintain valuable transhumance landscapes while taking modern technological and societal developments into account.

Glacial Fluctuation and Vegetation Succession on Tyndall Glacier, Mt Kenya

Abstract: Dramatic changes are taking place in the glacier-covered high mountains of Africa. The glacial area on Mt Kilimanjaro is now only half as large as it was in the 1970s. The Tyndall Glacier on Mt Kenya, which retreated at approxi-retreated at approximately 3 m/yr from 1958 to 1997, retreated at about 10 m/yr from 1997 to 2002. Pioneer species such as Senecio keniophytum, Arabis alpina, mosses, lichen, and Agrostis trachyphylla have advanced over areas formerly covered by the glacier. The rate at which this vegetation migrated up the former bed of the glacier (2.1–4.6 m/yr from 1958 to 1997) is similar to the rate of glacial retreat (2.9 m/yr). In the interval from 1997 to 2002, pioneer species advanced at a rapid rate of 6.4–12.2 m/yr, while the glacier retreated at 9.8 m/yr. Rapid glacial retreat has been accompanied by rapid colonization by plants. Pioneer species improve soil conditions and make habitat suitable for other plants. If warming continues, alpine plant cover may extend all the way to...

Private, Collective, and Centralized Institutional Arrangements for Managing Forest “Commons” in Nepal

Abstract: The main forest management strategy of Nepal, community forestry, is based on people's participation and was formally introduced in 1978. Under the community forestry structure, local people make decisions regarding forest management, utilization, and distribution of benefits from a forest; they are organized as a Community Forest User Group (CFUG). Presently, about 1 million ha of forest are under the control of about 13,000 CFUGs. The present article gives an overview of the status of community forestry and its features in Nepal and analyzes the institutional arrangements of 3 CFUGs from different parts of the country. The collective institutional arrangement is a legally supported approach in community forestry. It was found that the CFUGs have developed alternative institutional arrangements to this approach, ie private and centralized systems. As the case studies show, the practice of allocating limited use rights and protection responsibility to individual users as private property is decis...

Trail preferences and visitor characteristics in Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, Spain.

Abstract: Planning for recreational activities in protected areas involves an understanding of multiple and complex factors. Segmentation of the recreational supply and demand in natural areas, together with identification of the main conditioning factors of recreational use, are useful for park management. In this study, the recreational supply (trails) and demand (visitor characteristics), as well as some other features of a recreational system, were typologically studied in the Aiguestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park (Lleida, Spain). Through the application of a Multiple Correspondence Analysis (when dealing with demand) and Cluster Analysis (when dealing with both supply and demand), 4 groups of visitors and 3 groups of trails were identified. A positive relationship was observed between the difficulty of the trails and the visitors' educational level, sex, and time spent in the park; and a negative relationship between trail difficulty and the age of the visitors, conservationist perceptio...

Raising Awareness of the Impacts of Climate Change: Initial Steps in Shaping Policy in Nepal

Abstract: Climate change is happening and people have begun to feel its impacts on their daily lives. Clear indications of these impacts can be seen on Himalayan glaciers, which are melting at rapid rates and consequently form massive glacial lakes (Figure 1), with a risk of catastrophic glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). GLOFs result in loss of lives, property, and costly infrastructure, as well as displacement of local people. They represent a particular threat in Nepal, where resources are already scarce. In least developed countries (LDCs) like Nepal, where poverty reduction is a national priority, the impact of climate change appears to be an obstacle to the process of sustainable development. Institutionalizing the climate change issue in national policies has now become an urgent need rather than a choice. As a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Nepal has agreed to take climate change considerations into account in its national development agenda. The...

Language Endangerment and Linguistic Rights in the Himalayas: A Case Study from Nepal

Abstract: According to even the most conservative estimates, at least half of the world's 6500 languages are expected to become extinct in the next century. While the documentation of endangered languages has traditionally been the domain of academic linguists and anthropologists, international awareness of this impending linguistic catastrophe is growing, and development organizations are becoming involved in the struggle to preserve spoken forms. The death of a language marks the loss of yet another piece of cultural uniqueness from the mosaic of our diverse planet, and is therefore a tragedy for the heritage of all humanity. Language death is often compared to species extinction, and the same metaphors of preservation and diversity can be invoked to canvas support for biodiversity and language preservation programs. The present article addresses language endangerment in the Himalayas, with a focus on Nepal, and presents the options and challenges for linguistic development in this mountainous region.

Hydropower and Climate Change—A Reciprocal Relation: Institutional Energy Issues in Switzerland

Abstract: Since the extremely dry and hot summer of 2003, the question of what effects ongoing climate change will have on hydropower in Switzerland—mainly on the amount of electricity that will be produced, but also on the safety of hydropower plants—has often arisen. Even though predictions of the potential impacts of climate change on hydropower generation are characterized by uncertainty, it can be assumed that within the next 25 to 30 years no significant adaptation of the infrastructure for hydropower generation will be urgently needed in Switzerland. Therefore, there are no major institutional challenges to be faced in this context. On the other hand, extending hydropower generation units to further reduce the emission of greenhouse gases will constitute a challenge to existing institutional arrangements, in Switzerland and elsewhere. In the case of Switzerland, interest in protecting waterways and landscapes will conflict with future efforts to mitigate climate change. Current legislation is based ...