Attempts to include Jungfrau-Aletsch glacier region in the Swiss Alps on Unesco's list of World Heritage sites have received a setback. Voters in the commune of Ried-Mörel have opted out of the project.

Attempts to include the Jungfrau-Aletsch glacier region in the Swiss Alps on Unesco's list of World Heritage sites have received a setback. Voters in the commune of Ried-Mörel have opted out of the project.

By a two to one majority, voters in Ried-Mörel turned down a proposal by the Federal Environment Agency to include the commune in the site. Instead, they came out in favour of reducing the proposed site to ensure that tourism in the region is not adversely affected.

The local authorities had argued in favour of the smaller area to keep open the option of building a new cable-car in the commune. Voter turnout was over 80 per cent.

For its part, the nearby commune of Naters, also in canton Valais, came out in favour of including the whole area on the World Heritage list. Voters in Naters supported the project by 1,300 votes to 990. Other communes involved in the project in canton Berne gave it the green light last year.

It is now up to the authorities in canton Valais to take the next steps. On the one hand, they can recommend that the Federal Environment Agency respects the decision by voters in Ried. Alternatively, they can ask the the Federal government to reject the voters' opinion and apply for recognition of the region by Unesco.

The Jungfrau-Aletsch region is about 500 square kilometres in size, and includes the largest Alpine glacier as well as some mountain peaks reaching over 4,000 metres. The region is also an important European watershed between the Rhine and the Rhone rivers. It is already on a list of national protected areas.

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