Profile of Determined Leader in Protecting Mont Blanc - Barbara Erlinghaus
Thursday, May 26, 2011 at 09:28AM
Linda McMillan in Biodiversity Protection, Connectivity Conservation, Transboundary Conservation

Well-deserved praise and attention for a true Mountain Protection Champion!

ALPES Magazine has featured a beautiful, long and informative profile of our well-known Mountains Protected Areas Network member Barbara Erlinghaus of Switzerland, who is the leader of proMONT-BLANC. She is accurately described as 

 "A FIERCE activist, she has traveled the world and used her networks to advocate for the causes she believes in. Among them, the protection Mont Blanc."

Here is a link to the full article on the Pro-Mont Blanc website. Congratulations to Barbara for her excellent work and endless determination to protect one of the most important mountain regions of the world!

Update on Thursday, May 26, 2011 at 01:42PM by Registered CommenterLinda McMillan

Many Thanks to our WCPA Mountains and Connectivity Conservation Deputy Vice Chairman Olivier Chassot for crafting an excellent abstract in English of the article about Barbara Ehrlinghaus:

Barbara Ehringhaus

Barbara Ehringhaus, a gifted, bright and energetic woman has dedicated most of the last ten years to promote the preservation of the majestic Mont-Blanc massif in the Alps.

Recognizing that this European mountain icon knows no borders, Barbara has attended multiple conferences and travelled consistently to promote her own sacred mountain and highest peak in the Alps (4807m). Since 1998, Barbara, along with Jean-Pierre Courtin (Mountain Wilderness International) has managed to strengthen the International Committee of Associations for the Protection of Mont-Blanc (CIAPM for its French abbreviation of Comité International des Associations pour la Protection du Mont-Blanc), converting it into a successful tri-national (France, Italy and Switzerland) and multi-cultural NGO. The Committee is fighting to promote the cause of sustainable tourism and to ensure a promising future for the mountains in a truly international coalition in a tourist destination that has become the victim of its own success.

Barbara has also been instrumental in lobbying with great energies at different scales in order to inscribe her "massif du Mont-Blanc" as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Lady Mont-Blanc, as Barbara is often gently called, has spearheaded the organization of an international meeting in Geneva, the funding of scientific research, the communication of proMont-Blanc (CIAPM), and has assumed many times the representation of the initiative at the international level, mostly from her own expenses. In March 2011, the Yves Rocher Foundation recognized this modest activist with the "Land of Women International Award". Her tirelessness in pursuing her dreams on behalf of keeping the authenticity of the Mont-Blanc massif is a great lesson and a beautiful legacy for all of us involved in the preservation of cultural mountainous landscapes.

Article originally appeared on Mountain experts and advocates working to protect mountain areas of the world (http://protectmountains.com/).
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