Born 1931, married, 4 children, school and studies in Bern, Switzerland.
1962 PhD, 1968 Full Professor, 1978 Director Geographical Institute, 1986 Rector University of Bern, 1996 Prof. emeritus.
Research Activities
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| 1968-1976 |
Fieldwork in the mountains of the Mediterranean Region and in Africa: Geomorphology, Paleoecology, Natural Resources.
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| 1977-1986 |
Director UNESCO-MAB National Research Programme in the Swiss Alps
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| 1979-1996 |
Coordinator UNU-Mountain programme (United Nations University).with fieldwork in the Himalaya and Bangladesh: Mountain Ecology, Land Degradation and Natural Hazards, Water Resources
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| 1987-1996 |
Fieldwork in the High Andes of the Atacama region; Climate Change and Natural Resources
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Special nominations and awards
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| 1976-82 |
Vice President and 1997 Honorary member of the Swiss Academy of Sciences
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| 1989-97 |
Member Research Council of the Swiss National Science Foundation
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| 1995-2001 |
Director IGBP-PAGES-Office (Past Global Change Program)
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| 1996-2000 |
President International Geographical Union
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| 2000-2004 |
Chairman Board of Trustees of IFS (International Foundation for Science, Stockholm)
Several national and international awards
Honorary member of the Geographical Societies of France, Russia, Italy and member of 4 European Academies
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| 1988 |
Global 500 Honour Roll of UN-Environment Program
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| 1991 |
Marcel Benoist Prize of the Swiss Government for Scientific Achievements
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| 1998 |
Dr.h.c.rer.nat. Free University of Berlin
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| 2002 |
Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society, London
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Special Mountain Activities
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| 1986 and 1991 |
Founding member of the African and Andean Mountain Association
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| 1992 |
Member Research Council of the Swiss National Science FoundationContribution and participation Rio Conference: Mountain Chapter of Agenda 21
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| 1997 |
Contribution and participation to UN General Assembly Rio+5, New York
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| 2001 |
Official Launch of the International Year of Mountains, UN New York
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| 2002 |
Contribution to the International Year of Mountains
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Research in the Mountains of the World
1. The Mediterranean and the African Mountains (1958 -78)
A geomorphological dissertation on the Sierra Nevada of Andalucia was the begin-ning of a reconstruction of the last and recent glaciation round the Mediterranean Sea, with fieldwork in selected mountain regions of Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and Morocco. The rich experience in the Mediterranean zone led to an invitation from the University of Berlin for a six month field study in the Tibesti of central Sahara, supported by a special fellowship from the Humboldt Foundation. This North-South transect from the Alps to the Equator was continued in the Simen and Bale mountains in Ethiopia and ended at Mt. Kenya on the Equator. Shorter vis-its to the Sinai, the Hoggar and Cameroon Mountains completed this transect through different climatic zones that include a great variety of environmental changes over the last 20,000 years.
But this unique experience in the Mediterranean and African mountains could not be restricted to physical and climatological questions: continuous contacts with mountain people and their struggle for survival in a harsh environment led to new ideas for geographical projects and for scientific responsibilities in critical regions of developing countries. Intense discussions about both the objective and the structure of geogra-phy, especially about the co-operation between physical and cultural-economic geog-raphy began integrated projects that were started in Ethiopia and Kenya, and which still continue today under the competent leadership of younger colleagues.
To gain both knowledge and understanding of mountain ecosystems and mountain resources with the integration of natural and human components, we began with a series of international workshops throughout the African continent, supported by UNU (United Nations University), UNESCO, SDC (Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation), and other organisations. The first workshop took place in Ethiopia in 1986 and initiated the foundation of the African Mountain Association (AMA). Subsequent workshops were in Morocco in 1990, Kenya in 1993 and Madagascar in 1997 and Lesotho 2000.
2. Himalayas and Bangladesh (1979 - 1988, 1992 - present)
Soil erosion and mountain hazard studies with all their natural and human aspects were part of a UNU-project titled "Highland-Lowland-Interactive System". Contacts with projects for land use and forestry in other countries brought us a better under-standing about hydrological processes including erosion, sediment transport, accu-mulation and floods. Together with Jack Ives, we published the book "The Himalayan Dilemma, Reconciling Development and Conservation" (1989) with the clear mes-sage that the floods in the Indo-Gangetic plains could not be explained with a simpli-fied theory about environmental degradation and deforestation in the Himalayas. Since then, we have had an unbelievable reaction to this important message from the scientific community. It prompted many publications, which confirmed our results. This important topic about the highland-lowland relationship was taken up again some years later with the analysis of the precipitation and discharge data in Bangla-desh. This research project is still going on and should lead to a publication in 2002.
3. The arid Andes (1988 - 1996)
After my term as Rector of the University of Bern, we started the last big interdiscipli-nary project in the High Andes of the extremely arid Atacama region, in northern Chile The main question, a follow up of the 1968 Tibesti fieldwork, was again the cli-mate change between the tropical and the ectropical circulation during the last 20’000 years. Collaborators in the field and in the laboratory included geologists, physicists, archaeologists, botanists, specialists for paleosoils, pollen, lake sediments, etc. in order to create an integrated reconstruction of the different environmental changes in the past. Results, for example, from absolute dating of water showed very clearly that most of the groundwater was stored during a much more humid phase 10’000 years ago and that the recharge under the today's extreme arid conditions is very limited There is an increasing potential for conflicts between the booming mining industry, the rapidly growing urban population, tourism and the poor oasis agriculture, The pro-ject as a whole continues very successfully, after my official retirement, under the leadership of my successor and my former assistants and colleagues
Also in the Andes we have tried to organise and to expand the research in mountain ecology and mountain resource management by way of several international work-shops (Santiago, Chile 1991; La Paz, Bolivia, 1995; Quito, Ecuador, 1998; and Me-rida, Venezuela, 2001) supported by UNU, UNESCO, SDC, and other organisations. The Andean Mountain Association was founded as a key player for the Andes {1995) in the preparation for the UN International Year of the Mountains 2002.
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Responsibilities for planning and management of interdiscipli-nary research projects:
1. UNESCO-MAB in the Swiss Alps (1978 - 1988
As chairman of the Swiss National UNESCO-MAB Committee since 1975, we began to organise an interdisciplinary programme for MAB 6: Man's impact on mountain ecosystems. It was decided that Switzerland should concentrate ON only one pro-gramme out of more than 10, but it could use this programme to strengthen a na-tional policy for mountain areas and develop, together with neighbouring countries, a common research strategy for the Alps.
In 1978 the Swiss National Science Foundation accepted our proposal for a National Research Programme called "Ecological Balance and Economic Development in the Mountains". 30 different research units with all the necessary disciplines participated in this integrated approach to bridge the gap between ecology and economy. It was a unique and noteworthy learning process for interdisciplinary co-operation resulting scientific publications, as well as practical management plans and recommendations for local and national authorities.
2. UNU Highland-Lowland-Interactive System
Jack Ives and I were the co-ordinators of this UNU programme. It was not only the base for the Himalaya-Bangladesh programme, but, with the pioneering role and the seed money of UNU we were able to organise workshops in Africa and Latin America and to support the African and Andean Mountain Associations and their publications. In the Himalayas we had a very different situation thanks to ICIMOD (International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development), an organisation based in Kathmandu, founded and financed by UNESCO and several European countries, which co-operated with UNU and our project continuously.
This UNU programme, later called "Mountain Ecology and Sustainable Development" had, together with the continuous and most generous support of SDC, a highly impor-tant impact on the Rio-Conference in 1992 and prompted a special chapter in the Agenda 21.
All these activities were honoured in 1988 by the UN Global 500 award (UNEP, Nairobi).
3. Homework for Geography and Environmental Sciences
As Rector of the University of Bern I had the opportunity to organise the first interdis-ciplinary and inter-faculty professorship for ecology and environmental studies, which was installed, in one form or another, later on in most Swiss Universities. As a con-sequence of this initiative, I chaired the first commission on environmental sciences for the Swiss University Conference and later took on the responsibility for the envi-ronmental programmes in the Swiss National Science Foundation. These activities were honoured, together with all the mountain initiatives, by the highest scientific award of Switzerland, the Marcel Benoist prize in 1991, which was presented by the president of the Swiss government for the first time that year to three scientists from environmental disciplines.
Also in the Andes we have tried to organise and to expand the research in mountain ecology and mountain resource management by way of several international work-shops (Santiago, Chile 1991; La Paz, Bolivia, 1995; Quito, Ecuador, 1998; and Me-rida, Venezuela, 2001) supported by UNU, UNESCO, SDC, and other organisations. The Andean Mountain Association was founded as a key player for the Andes {1995) in the preparation for the UN International Year of the Mountains 2002.
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Engagement for Agenda 21 (1990 until now)
During the 3rd PrepCom in Geneva in 1991 for the Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Dr. R Högger, as representative of Switzerland and I as representative of UNU made a common proposal for a special mountain chapter in Agenda 21. We were surprised by the positive reaction of many delegates from developing countries and even more so by the success of our intervention.
As official member for science in the Swiss Delegation to Rio de Janeiro in 1992, to-gether with Jack Ives as representative of UNU, we had the opportunity to see that Chapter 13 "Managing Fragile Ecosystems - Mountain Sustainable Development" was unanimously accepted. This success spurred an unexpected amount of activity by governmental and non-governmental organisations and many engagements at international meetings.
A UN special General Assembly in 1997, 5 years after Rio, convened to evaluate the progress of the different chapters of Agenda 21. For this event, Jack Ives and I as editors, together with an efficient editorial board and nearly one hundred authors and contributors prepared a book called "Mountains of the World. A Global Priority™, which has been translated and published in Russian, French, Italian and Spanish.
Since 1997, a group of authors annually produce a brochure for the CSD (Commis-sion for Sustainable Development) in New York concerning mountain aspects using multi-disciplinary themes such as freshwater in 1998, tourism in 1999, and forestry in 2000.
The last step was the declaration of UN International Year for the Mountains 2002, decided in the General Assembly on November 10, 1998. Kirgistan made this pro-posal and organised the diplomatic steps very successfully (Switzerland could not do it as a non-UN-member). FAO is the official task manager for the mountain chapter of Agenda 21.
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Activities today
President IGU (International Geographical Union) 1996 - 2000
Director PAGES-IGBP (Past Global Changes of the International Geosphere- Biosphere Programme), 1995 - 2001
UN and FAO Mountain programme until 2002
Chair Board of Trustees International Foundation of Science, Stockholm, 2000-2003
Work in progress for a book about the Himalayas and the floods in Bangladesh together with Thomas Hofer.
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