The contribution of mountain policy in Austria to maintaining mountain farming and to supporting rural development

The landscape in Austria is characterised by the high proportion (70%) of mountain areas. Although the Austrian mountain areas have long been more than just an agricultural region, mountain farming still plays a key role in safeguarding the sensitive eco-system and thereby the multifunctional landscape and the general living and working space. The Austrian economic and territorial policies started to put particular importance on the regional development of mountain areas and the impact on landscape already in the early 1970s. This paper analyses and evaluates the Austrian mountain area..