With sadness in our hearts we are reporting about the passing away of Mr. Peter Hasslacher – one of the founding fathers of the Alpine Convention. Mr. Hasslacher is the one we owe to the decisive push of both the birth and the development of the Alpine Convention.
As former head of the department Spatial Planning and Nature Protection of the Austrian Alpine Club and president of CIPRA Austria, Mr Hasslacher was, amongst others, involved in the establishment of the “Hohe Tauern National Park”. He was an active advocate of the so called „Alpine Spatial Planning”, which takes into account the sensitivity of the Alpine ecosystems and landscapes. As passionate environmentalist, he denounced the damage of increasing road transport to ecology, health and safety. Within the initiative of the “Mountaineering villages”, his vision of a sustainable tourism close to nature was translated into practice.
Secretary General, Alenka Smerkolj: “I regret not to have known him personally and would like to pay a posthumous homage to him on behalf of the Secretariat. Driven by an intrinsic motivation, he devoted his life to the pursuit of sustainable development and protection of the Alps. Mr. Hasslacher was an example to many and a visionary for all of us. As a strong believer in the importance of the Alps for people and the environment, he will remain unforgotten”.
As team of the Permanent Secretariat and on behalf of the whole Alpine Convention family, we express our condolences to Mr Hasslacher’s family. We will continue our endeavors to keep Mr. Hasslacher’s legacy alive.