A bohemian mountain community in Ticino has rejected national-park status - and fast-track development - in favour of small grassroots projectsThe yellow postal bus lurches up the narrow, dead-end road that winds through Valle Onsernone, blasting its horn in warning as it rounds one cliff-hugging hairpin turn after another. Just a flimsy-looking guardrail separates us from the yawning ravine below. Heart somewhere in my throat, I wonder how many previous buses have tumbled over it into the churning Isorno River. For the record, the answer is none - this is Switzerland, after all.Just 25 minutes ago I was in the manicured lakeside resort of Locarno, watching wealthy holidaymakers clink Aperol spritzes. Now, as I shakily disembark in front of the Villa Edera hostel, I´m surrounded by birdsong, the hum of insects and towering peaks in innumerable shades of green. On the sunny northern side of the river, a chain of tiny hamlets stretch to the Italian border, their architecture a mix of traditional slate-roofed houses and ornate villas built by boastful émigrés. To the south stand a handful of solitary stone huts, accessible only on foot. Continue reading...
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