Switzerland builds fence to protect forest from wildlife
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The municipality of Sumvitg, Switzerland, recently completed a 2.5-kilometer-long fence around 25 hectares of protective forest above the village of Surrein.
This project, unique nationwide, aims to restore a forest that safeguards the village from natural hazards like avalanches and landslides. For decades, damage from wildlife has prevented new trees from growing, combined with unstable soil and dying trees, which reduced the forest’s ability to protect the village.
Beat Cadruvi, a forester for the Surselva region, explained the forest will not recover on its own, with the condition being particularly critical in the upper areas. Nora Zürcher-Gasser, a forest engineer, planned the fence as the only realistic way to ensure the forest’s long-term protective function. While acknowledging the fence significantly alters the landscape, she hopes other regions will not need to resort to such measures.
The construction of the fence cost approximately 1.5 million Swiss francs, most of which was funded by the Canton of Graubünden. Now that the fence is complete, the focus shifts to revitalizing the forest by planting over 20,000 young trees in the coming years, including both coniferous and deciduous species. The community is receiving support from volunteers with the Bergwald project, a foundation dedicated to preserving mountain forests throughout Switzerland.
Researchers from ETH Zürich will scientifically monitor the forest’s development over decades to assess the fence’s effectiveness. Forester Beat Cadruvi believes the fence will reduce problems compared to having no protection at all.
