Swiss environmental group slams new Rhône Glacier ice cave
Visitors inside the ice cave on the Rhône Glacier, near the Furka Pass, in 2021.
Keystone / Laurent Gillieron
A Swiss environmental group has criticised the creation of a new ice cave on the Rhône Glacier and urged the local authorities to investigate the matter.
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“We ask you to clarify the facts and take the necessary measures,” said the Swiss Foundation for the Protection and Development of the Landscape in a letter sent to the Valais government and Cantonal Building Commission (CCC), which was shared with the media.
The creation of a second ice grotto on the glacier prompted the foundation to report the case to the commission. “We are not aware of any application for planning permission for this,” said the foundation’s director, Raimund Rodewald. He called for the work to be stopped “immediately”.
“The old cave has obviously collapsed, and everything has been left in place. What bothers me is that the operator is taking every liberty to do as he pleases and enjoy the site to the last drop,” said Rodewald. We should at least have an “ethical attitude” towards these glaciers, which are dying mainly because of human activity, he added.
The Swiss foundation also wants the commission to “remove without delay” all existing and new coverings on the glacier. “The Rhone glacier is disappearing so fast that this kind of measure is of no interest other than commercial,” says Rodewald.
“The operator has removed the old tarpaulins and now he’s putting new ones on, which will certainly end up the same way. It’s a never-ending story, endangering the environment and the Rhône Glacier, which is listed in the Federal Inventory of Natural Landscapes, Sites and Monuments,” he said.
In summer 2022, the Valais environment service reacted to the fact that some of the textile tarpaulins covering part of the glacier and the entrance to the ice cave had been partially damaged and were floating on the glacial lake.
It ordered the operator to bring the site into compliance with the requirements of the Water Protection Act and the Environmental Protection Act.
“All the tarpaulins that were drifting into the lake were removed during the summer,” said Christine Genolet-Leubin, head of the environmental department. The tarpaulins that were still being used this year to protect the existing ice grotto will be removed at the beginning of next summer.
The environmental department intervenes when a risk of water pollution is identified. Only the commission has the authority to regulate the use of tarpaulins on a glacier.
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