Mountain Wilderness is an independent non profit organization dedicated to protecting and promoting the unique character, beauty, and ecological richness of mountain environments. Recognized as a public-interest organization and officially accredited for environmental protection in France, Mountain Wilderness France has been working for over 35 years to encourage more sustainable relationships with mountain areas through field actions, publications, and advocacy with political, economic, and civil society stakeholders.

(Source: https://www.mountainwilderness.fr/decouvrir-qui-sommes-nous)

The organization pursues three main objectives:

• Protect mountain natural environments
• Promote environmentally responsible mountain practices
• Support the ecological transition of mountain territories 
   

Since 2001, Mountain Wilderness has been carrying out mountain landscape restoration projects aimed at removing abandoned infrastructure from France’s mountain regions.

Over the years, many military, industrial, agricultural, and tourism-related structures have been left behind after the end of their operational life, with no plans for dismantling them. These obsolete installations, including piles of scrap metal or concrete, ski lift pylons and cables, and former facilities near mountain huts, no longer serve any purpose and often scar the landscape. Their impact, however, extends beyond aesthetics: they can also pose safety risks to mountain users and threaten fragile ecosystems.

To help preserve these natural environments, Mountain Wilderness has structured the project around four key priorities:

• Comprehensive inventory of obsolete infrastructure to identify, map, and better understand the distribution of abandoned installations across French mountain ranges.
  The organization estimates that more than 3,000 obsolete structures remain in the French mountains, with new sites regularly being identified.
  This inventory is also participatory through the website installationsobsoletes.org.
   
• Public awareness and education to increase understanding of the issue of abandoned mountain infrastructure through a range of educational and outreach initiatives.
   
• Advocacy for stronger legislation by promoting mandatory dismantling at the end of an installation’s operational life. 
  Currently, French legislation does not generally require obsolete infrastructure to be removed, with the exception of ski lifts. This exception was introduced in 2016 after Mountain Wilderness helped secure an amendment on obsolete infrastructure within the Mountain Law II (Loi Montagne II).
   
• Organization of dismantling operations to demonstrate that the removal of obsolete infrastructure is both practical and achievable. 
  Since the project began, more than 85 restoration operations have been completed, resulting in the removal of over 650 tonnes of abandoned infrastructure.This is the component of the project supported by the Sidas World Foundation, with 50% of the grant allocated to the purchase of equipment.   

On 13 July 2026, seven volunteers (including two from the Sidas World) joined forces in the Écrins Massif to dismantle an old rain gauge, probably installed by EDF between 1945 and 1977 to better measure precipitation in the high mountains. After an 800 meter of elevation gain ascent, and using carrying frames and a reciprocating saw, they cut up the instrument’s metal components and carried them back down by hand.

For more information about the work that was conducted: https://www.mountainwilderness.fr/actualites/chantier-hautes-alpes-vallouise-pelvoux