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> Forest Report 2015 Condition and Use of Swiss Forests FOEN / WSL 2015
1.1 Forest area
Bruno Röösli, Fabrizio Cioldi, Paolo Camin
> The Swiss forest performs many tasks. Among the most important, depending on the particular area, are:
providing protection against natural hazards, timber production, and biodiversity and landscape conservation.
> About a third of Switzerland’s land surface is covered with forest. The regional differences between the Swiss Plateau and the Southern slopes of the Alps are great.
> The total forest area has grown by 7 per cent to 1.31 million hectares since 1995. The forest is expanding, particularly in Alpine regions where agricultural land use is diminishing.
> The cantons can now specify so-called ‘static forest boundaries’ to prevent the forest expanding to areas where it is not wanted.
> Pure conifer forests account for 43 per cent of the forest area, making up the largest proportion. Since the 2005 Forest Report pure broadleaf forests have increased and today cover 25 per cent of the forest area.
Forest functions
The Swiss forest is expected to fulfil all kinds of requirements:
it should provide wood, store as much carbon dioxide (CO2) as possible, provide protection against avalanches and rockfall, supply clean drinking water, provide a habitat for plants and animals, as well as be (freely) available for people to relax and recuperate. To meet these demands, most cantons map, as part of their forest planning, the local forests functions, and specify which should have priority in the mostly multifunc- tional forests. In the whole of Switzerland between 42 and 49 per cent of the forest area1, depending on the definition of forest area used and how data is collected, serves to provide protection against natural hazards (section 5.2). Wood produc- tion has priority on 32 per cent of the forest area, nature and landscape protection on 12 per cent and recreation on 1 per cent (Brändli et al. 2015). Recreation is in principle possible anywhere in the forest area, but it only has priority over other functions on a few areas. Wood can also be used in many areas apart from forest reserves where the wood is no longer used (section 4.9).
Forest cover and use
According to NFI 2009/13, the forest today covers almost a third of Switzerland’s land surface, with considerable differ- ences between the regions. On the Swiss Plateau only a quar- ter of the land is covered with forest, whereas on the Southern slopes of the Alps it covers half the land area.
All of Switzerland’s forests are freely accessible to a locally acceptable extent, with the exception of a few pro- tected areas and military facilities. In general, forest owners
have no legal restrictions on how they manage their forests, and there are no corresponding prohibitions. Stricter provi- sions, however, apply in, for example, groundwater protec- tion areas. Where forest owners stop harvesting wood in, for example, forest reserves, they do so voluntarily. Normally in such cases, they reach an agreement with the canton, which, together with the federal government, gives them compensa- tion (section 4.9).
Fig. 1.1.1 The area of forest is under pressure not only on the Swiss Plateau but also in Alpine tourist centres like Davos (GR).
Photo: Ulrich Wasem
> 1 Resources 1.1 Forest area 31
Development of the forest area
Most of the Swiss population live on the Swiss Plateau, where unbuilt areas, particularly green spots, are becoming scarce because residential areas and infrastructure have been expand- ing (Fig. 1.1.1). The forest area on the Swiss Plateau and in much of the Jura region has remained the same for decades (Fig. 1.1.2). It has, however, not always been like this. Up until the 19th century, a great deal of forest in Switzerland was cleared, which created serious environmental problems. Ero- sion increased, and the risk of floods, rockfall and avalanches became more acute. The federal government reacted in 1876 to this development by passing the so-called Federal Act on Forest Police, of which a central part was a ban on clearing the forest. Since then the forest area has grown and stabilised.
The total forest area today amounts to 1.31 million hectares. It has increased since 1995 by 82,300 hectares, i.e. by 7 per cent.
In Alpine regions the forest has been expanding naturally for a long time (Fig. 1.1.2), especially in areas where agricultural land has been abandoned.
In some places a larger forest area is not desirable be- cause the forest may spread into the habitats of rare animal and plant species. The Federal Act on Forest was therefore changed in July 2013. Since then the cantons have been able, in areas where they wish to prevent the forest expanding, to establish static forest boundaries with open land. Beyond these boundaries, any newly formed stands are no longer legally considered forest, and can be removed without clearing per- mission so long as no other regulations apply.
Forest types
In Switzerland today, 62 per cent of the forest area is cov- ered with conifer forests. Specialists distinguish between pure conifer forests where more than 90 per cent of the trees are conifers and mixed conifer forests with between 51 and 90 per cent conifers. Since 1985 pure conifer forests have decreased by 8 per cent. Broadleaf forests are also classified as pure or mixed. Together they comprise 38 per cent of the total forest area (Fig. 1.1.3). The proportion of pure broadleaf forests has increased by 5 per cent since 1985, and that of mixed forests by 2 per cent. The proportion of broadleaf for- ests has mainly increased at lower altitudes, where broadleaf forests grow naturally (section 4.3). Having forest stands that have adapted to the site reduces the risk of loss due to wind- throw or pests, and they are also likely to be more resilient in the light of climate change.
1 The detailed figures are: 42 per cent according to Brändli et al. 2015, 45 per cent according to Abegg et al. 2014 and 49 per cent according to Losey and Wehrli 2009.
Fig. 1.1.2 Regionally, the forest area has developed differently. It remained the same size on the Swiss Plateau and the Jura be- tween 1985 and 2013, but increased in Alpine regions. Source: NFI
Switzerland: 10 ±1 %
18 ±3
23 ±3
15 ±3
14 ±5 28 ±7
8 ±4
9 ±3
2 ±2
12 ±4
1 ±1
–1 ±1
1 ±3
2 ±2 1 ±1
2–5 %
<2 % 6–10 % 11–15 % >15 %
Fig. 1.1.3 Distribution of forest types between 1985 and 2013.
Pure conifer forests are most frequent, although they have decreased. Source: NFI
51 18 11 20
46 21 14 19
43 20 12 25
43 19 13 25
20 40 60 80
1985 1995 2006 2013
100
Per cent
0 10 30 50 70 90
Conifer: pure mixed Broadleaf: pure mixed
