The issues of Mountain landscapes : « Mountain regions must not become museums or amusement parks »

International audienceLandscape, according to the European Landscape Convention means « an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and /or human factors ». The industrial era not only had tremendous impacts on climate change, it gave human beings technological means to rashly adapt local environment to their needs. As a consequence, protecting landscape has become a major issue. It forms part of human beings quality of life on a day to day basis, but also in their search for a change of scenery (« dépaysement » in French). It thus became a touristic product leading to the alteration of natural landscapes people were looking for. This phenomena can unfortunately be seen with all kinds of tourism, whether on the coast, in cities, in rural areas or in the mountains. I will not discuss here the particular beauty of mountain landscape as a space for contemplation, giving a sense of freedom and a feeling of fullness. However, as the Council of Europe stated : « given the vulnerability of the mountain environment, it seems likely that their [tourists] impact is more pronounced here than elsewhere 4 ». Mountain special characteristics have been recognized about sixty years ago by international institutions, through different issues. Depopulation, agriculture, environment, climate change. Each time the issue of landscape was covered (I). As a result recurring actions are recommended : land-use planning and mountain range level cooperation (II). French policies regarding mountains followed the same path