What municipalities can do for hermits and fire salamanders

The Alps possess an especially large and valuable diversity of plants and animals; this can only continue if habitats are preserved and remain connected to one another. Municipalities can contribute to this in many ways: CIPRA has produced a short film for municipal representatives showing how to make use of these opportunities.

The film “For hermits and fire salamanders – How municipalities connect habitats in the Alps” gives examples of how municipalities can contribute to maintaining the natural diversity of the Alps. Representatives from the Isère département in France, the Engadin in Switzerland and South Tyrol explain how they all contribute to connecting habitats. Each emphasises that it is not just nature that profits, but also people.

“I think the film is very relevant and clearly shows Alpine municipalities that taking account of landscapes and biodiversity improves their quality of life and sustainable development. The film successfully gets this core message across”, states Antonio Chiadò, vice-chairman of the “Alliance in the Alps” network of municipalities.

The 15-minute film is available in English, French, German, Italian and Slovenian as a free DVD or internet download. CIPRA will also be showing the film over the coming months to its target audience of municipal representatives at various events, including at the locations where the film was made.

The film forms part of the Ecological Continuum Initiative under which CIPRA, together with ALPARC (Alpine Network of Protected Areas) and ISCAR (International Scientific Committee for Alpine Research), is supporting municipalities and other players in their efforts to improve ecological networks in the Alps.

You can download the press release, photographs in high resoluction, the film or the trailor at the following link:
www.cipra.org/en/press/press-releases