Kudos to the Helvetian Confederation.
bob
From:
"marco_pert...@yahoo.it" <marco_pert...@yahoo.it>
To: worldhistor...@yahoogroups.com;
stirl...@yahoogroups.com
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Sent: Sat, March 27, 2010
11:38:44 AM
Subject:
[stirling] SWITZERLAND Forests spread in size and diversity
Mar 16, 2010 - 16:55
Forests spread in size and diversity
Swiss forests are larger and more diverse than in the 1990s,
with protective woodlands now more stable against landslides and
avalanches, a
report has revealed.
The Federal Environment Office and the Institute for Forests, Snow
and Landscape Research said on Tuesday that woodlands now cover 1.28
million
hectares of Switzerland, about 600 square kilometres more than 11 years
ago.
That new growth is about the same size as canton Glarus.
The forestry inventory report, released ahead of World Forestry
Day on March 21, showed that new forests are growing most rapidly in the
country’s alpine regions, where half of all forests help guard against
avalanches and landslides.
Forests in mountainous areas now
cover 31 per
cent of the total surface area, up from 29.6 per cent from the last time
an
inventory was conducted in 1993-1995.
Nearly one third of the
country’s
protective forests have benefited in the past 11 years from measures
designed to
promote forest health and development. About 16 per cent of Swiss
forests now
cover watersheds tapped for drinking water.
At the same time,
nearly
three times as much deadwood can be found in Swiss forests compared with
1985,
the report found. Storms, insect infestations and heat waves are largely
to
blame. Researchers added they would study the effects that climate
change may
have on wood stocks.
Forests with just one type of tree are also
becoming
less common. Fifteen years ago 27 per cent of woodlands were
monocultures. Today
it is 23 per cent.
swissinfo.ch
http://www.swissinf o.ch/eng/ science_technolo
gy/Forests_ spread_in_ size_and_ diversity. html?cid= 8494192
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