The 2025 Alpine World Ski Championships took place in Saalbach-Hinterglemm until 16 February 2025. Independent of the sporting highlights and completely unnoticed, this year's World Ski Championships also offered a few species conservation highlights that are at least just as worthy of medals. For in order to meet the FIS requirements for the race venues, the slopes on the Zwölferkogel had to be partially removed or backfilled, thus also encroaching on the habitats of protected species.

Ready, set, nature conservation?

In Austria, the legal matters concerning nature conservation are in the hands of the federal states. The Austrian Federal Constitutional [Bundesverfassungsgesetz/B-VG] does not explicitly transfer responsibility for matters to the federal government, which is why they fall within the legislative and executive powers of the federal states in accordance with the general provision of Article 15 B-VG. As nature conservation is not explicitly mentioned in the B-VG, this matter is defined in the nature conservation acts of the federal states. Due to the diversity of the area of regulation and the overlap with matters of the federal government, nature conservation issues are also repeatedly the subject of legal competence considerations.

With respect to major events, organisers are faced, among other things, with the question of what nature conservation procedures and permits are involved in staging the event. As part of the 2025 World Ski Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, for example, the creation of the "World Cup-ready" ski slopes was accompanied by extensive excavations, widening and backfilling. These changes to meadows and slopes are generally associated with considerable environmental impacts, especially on the flora and fauna. The organisers therefore had to observe the provisions of the Salzburg Nature Conservation Act when implementing their project.

(No) dream day: a new home for alpine salamanders and mountain lizards

Before planning any changes to the terrain, event organisers must obtain the necessary permits from the relevant nature conservation authorities. On the one hand, it must be checked as to whether the project is located in a protected area and, on the other hand, whether the implementation of specific measures must be harmonised with nature conservation regulations. It should be noted that, for example, significant changes to ski slopes constitute a measure that changes the terrain and requires a permit in accordance with Section 25(1)(d) No. 1 of the Salzburg Nature Conservation Act and that aspects of protecting the landscape and the recreational area also have to be considered when preparing the slopes. In this respect, the Salzburg Nature Conservation Act expressly stipulates in Section 27(1) that the chemical clearing and preparation of ski slopes is prohibited. For the perfect, icy slope, however, an exception is made for such measures in the course of "sporting events with unobjectionable substances in small quantities".

While the Saalbach-Hinterglemm ski area does not qualify as a landscape conservation area or a European protected area, species protection issues played a particularly important role in the optimisation of the ski slopes. The state government must issue a regulation to protect special plants and animals protected under the Habitats Directive and to ensure the protection of their habitat. This also explains why 46 alpine salamanders, 248 alpine newts, 524 grass frogs, 240 common toads and 214 mountain lizards were given a new home for the perfect slope.

The search for new habitats away from the slope

The nature conservation measures are based on Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992, better known as the Habitats Directive. On the one hand, the Habitats Directive protects certain areas together with their flora and fauna (habitat conservation), and on the other hand, certain animal and plant species outside designated areas are protected as well (species conservation).

The prescribed species conservation includes, for example, the ban on killing, disturbance and damaging or destroying reproduction, breeding and resting sites. If interference with the reproduction, breeding and resting places of protected animal species is unavoidable for the realisation of a project, so-called CEF measures must be implemented. These are compensatory measures that are taken even before the interference and are often implemented as the creation of replacement habitats.

Conclusion

It is therefore clear that not only "normal projects" have to face nature conservation issues but that also major sporting events such as the 2025 Alpine World Ski Championships have to deal with such issues. If there is an impact on nature in the planning phase, nature conservation permits must be obtained from the competent state authority. On the part of the organisers or project applicants the length of proceedings must in particular be taken into account and it is essential to deal with species conservation issues at an early stage so that the options under species conservation and permits law are clearly defined in a timely manner and the length of proceedings can be realistically estimated. As a result, nothing will stand in the way of a major event or a (construction) project.