A glacier has been occupied against the exploitation of the mountains in France

It ended on Friday the 13th the occupation of the construction site of work on the Girosa glacier, in France, after a week of mobilization in 3400 meters of height which blocked the construction works of the third section of the La Greve cable car.In fact, about a fortnight earlier, the barracks for the workers, the first machinery and an excavator for the installation of a cable car pylon had arrived by helicopter.The camp, how they write on their site the occupants belonging to the network of Soulèvement de la Terre, the radical ecological movement that the French government attempted to dissolve a few months ago, "testifies to the desire to put an end to the exploitation and artificialisation of the mountains, from the lands of the valleys to the glaciers.” The objective was also to make it clear that new resistance camps could return in the spring if the project is not definitively abandoned.

Around 300 people passed through the site:the camp held up despite threats of eviction from the Prefecture, which banned bivouacs on the entire glacier until the end of spring, effectively privatizing it for SATG, the company that will carry out the work. “We are the glaciers that defend themselves”, Yes law on one of the banners hanging on the tents.According to scientists, by 2050 the Girose glacier will no longer exist, like most European and global glaciers.For now, the majestic giant appears far from dead, but it is retreating quickly.The occupiers demand its preservation without it being exploited, as in the last 25 years, by wealthy skiers and high mountain tourists.

The project (in fact unprofitable without being accompanied by real estate development operations that will disfigure the village of La Grave, in the Écrins National Park) is led by SATA Group – manager of Alpe d’Huez and Les Deux-Alpes – who has already extensively concreted the surrounding area.The project is worth 12 million euros, of which 4 million are obtained from public funds.The declared objective of this giant of local mountain tourism is to double the number of visitors in the locations it manages by 2030, in time for the Olympic Games.Snow cover is constantly decreasing, but this has not stopped the SATA Group from planning a continuous increase in visitors to the high mountains, with new ski lifts, crawler slopes, artificial snow and the construction of hundreds of new tourist accommodations.SATA's stated goal is to build one of the largest ski areas in Europe, sponsoring the idea that urbanization and exploitation of the glacier are essential for the economic survival of the area.“The third section of the cable car is undoubtedly the first step towards the commercial development of this glacier by the tourism industry,” they say the activists of Soulèvement together with those of Grave Autrement and Mountain Wilderness, two associations that have been active in the area for years against the project.SATA is already preparing the ground for the revision of the territorial coherence plan, a possible connection with Les Deux-Alpes and new ski slopes, a project that would be disastrous for the fragile balance of the mountain.

La Grave is a rather unusual canton in the landscape of the Oisans massif.Surrounded by large towns already heavily damaged by concrete development, La Grave has remained relatively unscathed by the more problematic aspects of mass tourism and has retained a local agricultural industry.“Without denying that tourism is also what has long allowed local populations to remain in the valleys”, say activists in the area, “we can no longer turn a blind eye to the consequences, particularly present in the mountains, of climate change, disappearance of glaciers and degradation of water resources and ecosystems. The breakneck pace of the tourism industry is anything but a solution.It's not about defending La Grave as an exception, but about imagine other desirable futures for the mountains and their diverse inhabitants.”

French President Emmanuel Macron is preparing a summit in Paris on the "worrying" situation of the glaciers, but - activists recall - in practice politics pushes towards continuous exploitation of the mountains and the water that comes from the peaks.Under Macron's government, reservoirs are being built for the private exploitation of water in many French sites, i.e. swimming pools that are also built in the high mountains to serve the snow cannons of ski facilities.Now that the snow is almost gone due to climate change, in fact, its replacement is expected with glacier water, a move that would have important environmental consequences on the surrounding area.“We believe it is urgent to find other ways of living in the mountains.The model that SATA is defending with the construction of a third section is outdated.It is a breathless race towards the future, which sees the artificialization of the mountains as the only solution for living there.Yet wherever it operates, SATA is already reaching the limits of its model: illegally pumping groundwater to water its snow cannons, scraping away the last glaciers and climbing higher and higher to exploit the last snowflakes.”

On Friday 13 October, with the arrival of the first snow (which will block the work during the winter), the occupants descended from the camp at 3400 meters above sea level.The promise is to return more numerous and organized in the spring if the project is not completely abandoned.Meanwhile, on October 19th a hearing will be held where the judicial authorities will express their opinion on the appeal presented by the ecological associations to stop the project as it is dangerous due to the presence of protected animal and plant species.

[by Monica Cillerai]