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It is generally accepted today that cheese constitutes an important element of the heritage of mountain areas. But for how long has it enjoyed this status ? Since the inter-war period, alpine geographers have played a significant role in this development by frequently underlining the relationships between cheese and mountain areas. Certainly, cheese is not an object of geographical study in itself but, through their detailed descriptions of pastoral ways of life, geographers may be considered as the « inventors » of the specificity of alpine cheese production, a specificity based on diversity. Since the 1950-70 period, in line with the changes taking place in the geographic discipline, cheese production has been considered mainly from the point of view of its role as a transformation activity. The diversity and the wealth of mountain cheese production are still far from being of major interest to the media, even though the « East-Central » Emmental crisis gave rise to calls for the protection of Savoyard cheeses. It was not until the beginning of the 1990s that the cheeses declared as being « local » or « traditional » became cultural objects and joined the ranks of heritage products in the writings of geographers.

Situated somewhere between an enlightened interpretation of the landscape (ethnoecology) and an ethnological survey, the article reports on a field survey conducted in the Abondance region of the French Alps to determine the effects of the local cheese being awarded the AOC designation (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, protecting the geographic denomination of a product). More specifically, the study examines the impact on the spatial organisation of the production area and the way it is perceived by the different actors involved. By enhancing the value and prestige of the farmer « producer », the AOC designation helps define the region and thus the landscape - a landscape glorified through its alpine pastures, places of professional excellence and a theatre of active cultural contact between the stock farmers of Abondance, hunters and ecological groups, and tourists. From a fine product to a fine landscape, a new relationship is developing for the region and its emblems, the most notable of which are its animal figures : the cow, among the domestic animals, and the black grouse, the wild animals.

A pragmatic approach is used to analyse the impact of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (a designation protecting the geographical name of a product) on the processes of heritage development and the differentiation of cheese production in the Northern Alps, emphasizing on the institutional aspects and methods of appropriating heritage objects at the local level. The article examines the link between vernacular knowledge and technical know-how and the ways of transmitting this knowledge. It also looks at the legitimisation process and the cost of heritage creation.

The revival of a breed such as the Villard-de-Lans in the Vercors massif, the invention of a tradition such as the « fin gras » (special type of beef) in the Mézenc area, the celebration of an ancestral tradition such as transhumance in the Diois or the rediscovery of a breed of hens in a town such as Rennes in Brittany are analysed as examples of ways of redefining rural areas through practices based on animals and animal products. These examples illustrate not only new uses of rural resources in the heritage creation process but also the profound changes which are today affecting relationships between town and country, as evidenced by the revival of the « Coucou » hen breed in the Rennes area.

The article analyses the illustrations and texts used on table mats to promote Reblochon cheese. It attempts to identify the types of information used in this promotional material and to underline the extent to which communications on heritage aspects, where the stakes are highly symbolic, require particular finesse.

Since 1993, the DRAC (Direction régionale des affaires culturelles) in the Rhône-Alps region, together with government agricultural departments, has been involved in a scientific and cultural policy focusing on regional products. Studies, expositions, different cultural activities and the creation of multimedia products have received financial or technical support in most departments of the region. Aspects of the region which appear as original have been used to redefine its heritage. Based on the product, the different steps in the heritage creation process may be identified, from the empirical knowledge of agricultural traditions to the landscapes and the geographical protection processes set up by the INAO (Institut national des appellations d'origine). It can also be an important vector for economic, social and cultural development, linking heritage and agriculture to assist the different regions in rediscovering their dynamism. Using the example of the interpretation centre at Mieussy, in the department of Haute Savoie, the article shows how a local community has realised the importance of the « heritage » resource, and is using it today to sell more of its cheeses.

The authors go back to the mountain origins of sheep transhumance, and the organisation that this required in the French Southern Alps, to illustrate the changes that have occurred in the second half of the 20th century. By examining the aims of the stock farming associated with transhumance, the breeds of sheep and other animals concerned, local know-how, landscapes and representations engendered by transhumance, the authors show how the biodiversity generated by transhumance has suffered over recent decades.

Since the beginning of the decade, hygiene requirements have become an important consideration in managing the production of cheeses with the AOC designation, particularly those made using milk directly from the cow, as is often the case in mountain areas. Apart from the purely regulatory aspects, these standards also have spatial implications since the cheese-producing areas adapt in different ways to meet the new constraints. Thus even within the mountain areas of France, a considerable diversity of situations may be observed, reflecting to a certain extent the general organisation of the production systems.

Crop diversity in mountain areas and conservation strategy Diversité de l'agriculture en zones de montagne et stratégies de conservation Stephen В. Brush. Abstract : This paper considers the genetic diversity of crops in mountain agriculture that reflects the original domestication of crops and their evolution. Environmental and social explanations for the concentration of genetic diversity in mountain agriculture are evaluated, and the conservation of crop diversity is considered. Information from field research on wheat in Anatolia (Turkey), potatoes in the Andes (Peru), and maize in Mesoamerica (Mexico) suggests that traditional varieties in mountains are often broadly adapted, a finding that contrasts with the more conventional view of narrow adaptation. Environment, risk and market factors influence the maintenance of diversity in the face of improved technology, increased population, communication and economic integration.

Ethnobiodiversity and plant genetic resources in the Alps-Balkans-Carpathians- Danube (ABCD) area Ethnobiodiversité et ressources génétiques végétales dans l'aire Alpes-Balkans-Carpates- Danube (ABCD) Szabó TA. Abstract : Research into ethnobiodiversity studies the influence on biological diversity of not only ecological conditions but also cultural traditions and the experience accumulated by different human communities. The concept is not widely used due to the fuzzy nature of the system involved. The ABCD area is not a geographical term but a concept proposed for use in ethnobiodiversity studies. It is based on the assumption that the Neolithic Revolution was deterministic for the evolution of European ethnic and environmental diversity and that the process advanced along the Alps-Balkans-Carpathians mountain system as a whole. The role of ethnobiological (biological, zoological) knowledge in the emergence of the Indo-European languages and cultures is a subject of considerable debate. The article examines the case of the Hungarian people as representing the last successful « late-comers » of the Indo-European invasion (sensu Renfrew) or of the Curgan invasions (sensu Gimbutas). The Hungarian case study, which involves a consideration of both crop cultivation and certain grazing activities (mostly horse, sheep and cattle), is completed by the study of two crop categories, that of forage clovers and einkorn wheat. Forage grasses and clovers evolved in the European « gene centre » under the pressure of the similar grazing practices of animal breeders and horse warriors. Einkorn wheat (Triticum Monococcum) evolved under the influence of the practices of the early cultivators and may be regarded in Europe as a living fossil of the Neolithic Revolution.