Mountain Wilderness France

About us

Mountain Wilderness France was established in 1988 as the very first national Chapter of the international organisation founded the year before in Italy. It still is the largest Chapter, with approximately 1,500 members and a salaried staff.
Haroun Tazieff, renowned volcanologist, was its first president, followed by the outstanding mountaineer Patrick Gabarrou. François Labande, famous author of mountaineering guidebooks, remained the cornerstone of the association during the following eight years, when its headquarters were near Evian, on the south shore of Lake Geneva.
In 1996, the headquarters of MW France moved to Grenoble and a new team took over, with Bernard Amy as new president. As a melting pot of environmental activists and mountain freaks, Grenoble, capital of the French Alps, proved to be a good choice for the NGO, bringing those two cultures together in a new and unusual way. Despite the historical and geographical attractiveness of this area, MW France has members everywhere in France and its actions focus on all French mountain areas (Pyrénées, Massif Central, Vosges, Jura, Corsica).
On important actions such as lawsuits filed against development projects or offroad vehicle gatherings, MW France generally acts in coordination with mainstream regional environmental organisations such as FRAPNA, under the umbrella of France Nature Environnement, but also with the Federation of French Alpine Clubs (FFCAM).