switzerland: goodbye channelled rivers,
hello beaver!
pia
salathé, foe switzerland
Switzerland’s 6,000-kilometer long water
system is vital to the survival of the many
plants and animals living within its
bounds. Yet an incredible 95 percent of the
country’s rivers have been tamed to flow in
artificial channels. If Swiss rivers were
set free to meander naturally across the
landscape, the surrounding biological
diversity would increase substantially.
People would also benefit from the
increased green space that would
emerge.
Pro Natura/Friends of the Earth
Baselland runs a “Hello Beaver” campaign in
the northwest of Switzerland that
encourages beavers to return to the area
around the city of Basel. Beavers, still
found along the Rhine in eastern
Switzerland and France, face obstacles like
dams and locks in the Basel surroundings,
and much of the existing shoreline is not
suitable habitat. In collaboration with
politicians, companies, and the interested
public, the “Hello Beaver” campaign works
to remove obstacles, rehabilitate
shorelines, and allow rivers and creeks to
flow more naturally.
The ideal beaver habitat includes
slow-flowing rivers about half-ameter deep,
natural shorelines for lodges, and shore
vegetation with softwood, mainly willows,
as a winter food supply. Beavers influence
and change their habitats by chewing down
trees for food and building material for
their lodges and dams. Unlike other
animals, the beaver constantly changes and
impacts its habitat to better suit its
needs.
FoE Switzerland’s campaign uses the
beaver in order to promote the ecological
rehabilitation and connection of rivers,
creeks and shorelines. However, a
successful campaign would also mean a more
natural and diverse water system, with many
other plants and animals returning to areas
where they had become extinct.
more information:
Hello Beaver campaign:
www.hallobiber.ch
(German)
FoE Switzerland:
www.pronatura.ch
