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France to limit access to Mont Blanc after 'aberrant behaviour' of tourists

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AFP/The Local France - [email protected]
France to limit access to Mont Blanc after 'aberrant behaviour' of tourists
Photo: AFP

France is to limit access to Mont Blanc to protect the environment and limit the 'aberrant behaviour' of tourists.

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French president Emmanuel Macron, while on a visit to the French Alps on Thursday, announced that a protected area would be declared around the mountain, which is facing the double threat of climate change and irresponsible tourism.

Macron also announced that the existing fines for irresponsible behaviour on the mountain will be hiked from €38 to between €750 and €1,500.

He told reporters after his visit that a major concern was a rise in "aberrant behaviour" by climbers and visitors.

READ ALSO Climbing Mont Blanc: 10 reasons to think twice


Macron announced the declaration of a protected area around the mountain. Photo: AFP

Recent incidents have included a British tourist abandoning a rowing machine on the famed mountain, a German tourist making the ascent with his dog against the rules, and two Swiss climbers landing a small plane just east of the summit before hiking to the top.

The mayor of Chamonix, where Macron held his press conference, last year urged the president to act against such "wackos".

Macron said the new protected zone and heavier fines would go a long way to making legitimate alpine tourism possible while discouraging harmful practices.

He also announced that certain types of heavy trucks will be banned from the heavily-polluted nearby Vallee de l'Arve.

Local authorities have already banned traditional open fires from the valley in an attempt to improve air quality.

Macron announced the changes on a visit to Mont Blanc where he also viewed the rapidly shrinking Mont Blanc glacier.

"I did not expect melting as quick as this. It leaves a huge impression.

"You see how the failure to take decisions has resulted in that," the president said, blaming "a very direct impact of climate warming."

He used his trip to announce the "fight of the century" against climate change.

READ ALSO The French Alps resorts facing a future with no snow


Sign showing how far the Mont Blanc glacier has retreated. Photo: AFP

The French president  is keen to burnish his green credentials as he begins the road towards 2022 presidential elections, although sceptics have not always been impressed by his ambitious environmental rhetoric.

According to the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps (CIPRA), temperatures in the mountain range have risen by nearly 2C in the past 120 years - almost double the global average, and will continue to soar.

The world's nations agreed in the French capital in 2015 to curb average global warming to 2C over pre-Industrial Revolution levels, or to 1.5C if possible.

But the one-degree mark has already been exceeded and scientists warn Earth is on track for 3C unless the Paris agreement signatories improve their targets for reducing planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

Macron said the search for a new way for humans to live that has less impact on the environment "will be the fight of the century".

But he insisted that protecting the environment was not in conflict with economic development.

"We need to show that this strategy is compatible with economic progress because this is the strategy in which I believe," he added.


Emmanuel Macron, left, on a visit to the Mont Blanc glacier. Photo: AFP

Urging no stigmatisation of agriculture, Macron added: "We will only succeed in this struggle if we bring everyone together. This has not always been our strong point in this country."

Macron is keen to make the environment a key theme of the second half of his mandate as he emerges from a bruising standoff with unions over pension reform.

However not all of his moves in the area have met with success.

His first appointment as environment minister, celebrity environmentalist Nicolas Hulot, quit during a live radio interview in August 2018, saying his cabinet colleagues were doing too little to tackle the climate emergency.

"We still have a long way to go, which is why the year 2020 will be a decisive year for biodiversity, the year in which we can start to make a difference," said Macron.

READ ALSO The list of French ski resorts affected by strike action in February 

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