Wolfgang Rescuer

Wolfgang Retter (born June 6, 1938 in Innsbruck ) is an Austrian environmental activist , conservationist and author.

Life

After attending the public grammar school of the Franciscans (OFM) in Hall , Wolfgang Retter began a teaching degree in biology , earth sciences , physics and chemistry at the University of Innsbruck . In 1963 he passed his teaching examination, four years later he was awarded a doctorate in philosophy with a plant-ecological dissertation. From 1963 until his retirement in 1998, Wolfgang Retter worked as a high school teacher and educator in Lienz .

Retter was already involved in the Austrian Nature Conservation Union during his scientific training . In 1959, together with his later wife Erika Rieß, he founded the Tyrol Regional Group of the Austrian Youth Conservation in Innsbruck .

When the Tyrolean provincial government decided on the Dorfertal / Matrei storage power plant in 1971, which endangered the creation of the Hohe Tauern National Park in Tyrol, a longstanding conflict began between the interests of economic use and nature conservation. In 1973 Retter and like-minded people founded the Association for the Protection of the Recreational Landscape in East Tyrol . As its chairman, he organized lectures by well-known scientists and tried in countless discussions to convince the local population of the advantages of a national park.

From 1975 to 1989 Retter worked as a speaker and head of summer courses for the Austrian Nature Conservation Union on national park issues. In 1976 he set up the “ Umbal Falls Water Trail ” under the patronage of the Council of Europe .

Wolfgang Retter was a longstanding presidential member of the Austrian Nature Conservation Union . In addition, he was involved in the main and administrative committee of the Austrian Alpine Club for six years . Since 2005 he has been the spokesman for Netzwerk Wasser Osttirol , an initiative to protect the East Tyrolean streams and rivers.

As state champion for amateur photography (1973), Retter set new standards for landscape photography with numerous illustrated books about the Hohe Tauern National Park and the Lienz district ( East Tyrol ). In terms of modern nature conservation, these books document both the untouched natural landscape and the man-made cultural landscape. In addition, he wrote text and image contributions in books on natural landscapes (e.g. Gerhart Langthaler: Urlandschaften Österreichs , 1984; Österreichischer Naturführer , 1989; WWF: The most beautiful nature reserves in the world , 1990) and mountain farming work in the Hohe Tauern National Park area (e.g. Hans Haid: Vom alten Leben 1986; Hans Haid: Mythos und Kult in den Alpen , 1990), as well as essays and statements in newspapers and magazines (e.g. Kosmos, Berge, Arunda, Alpenvereins-Mitteilungen, Natur und Land) on questions of landscape protection and ecology .

Honors

In 1983, Wolfgang Retter received the Konrad Lorenz Prize (Austrian State Prize for Nature Conservation and Environmental Protection) for his “outstanding commitment to the protection of Austrian natural and cultural landscapes of national importance” . In 1992 he was awarded the Austrian Nature Conservation Prize together with his wife Erika .

Publications

• Roland Floimair, Wolfgang Retter: Hohe Tauern National Park - the Salzburg part . Nonntal, 1984
• Roland Floimair, Wolfgang Retter: Hohe Tauern National Park - the Carinthian part . with the collaboration of Erwin Graze, Nonntal, 1985
• Roland Floimair, Wolfgang Retter: Hohe Tauern National Park - the Tyrolean part . with the collaboration of Peter Haßlacher, Nonntal, 1986
• Wolfgang Retter, Clemens M. Hutter: East Tyrol - a touch of paradise . Pustet, Salzburg 1990
• Clemens M. Hutter, Wolfgang Retter: Großvenediger . Pustet, Salzburg 1991
• Wolfgang Retter, Roland Floimair: Hohe Tauern National Park - Meeting the origins . Pustet, Salzburg 1992
• Wolfgang Retter, Michael Jungmeier: Hohe Tauern National Park - Carinthia . Pustet, Salzburg 1993
• Wolfgang Retter, Gottfried Rainer: Hohe Tauern National Park - Tyrol . Pustet, Salzburg 1993
• Wolfgang Retter, Roland Floimair: Hohe Tauern National Park - Salzburg . Pustet, Salzburg 1994
• Wolfgang Retter, Werner Thuswaldner : Hohe Tauern National Park . Pustet, Salzburg 2002

Web links

• Network Water East Tyrol