Preserving biodiversity in Jorat Nature Discovery Park

Home to the largest contiguous forest in the Swiss Central Plateau, Jorat Nature Discovery Park near Lausanne has a remarkable variety of plant and animal species. And they deserve to be preserved. Through its biodiversity initiative “Flora Futura,” AXA helps park employees preserve the park’s great biological diversity. 

Green as far as the eye can see: Jorat Nature Discovery Park, located north of the city of Lausanne, covers around nine square kilometers of the largest contiguous forest in the Swiss Central Plateau. Whether on foot, bicycle or horse, visitors will find a wide variety of recreational activities at the park. Its biodiversity also makes the park extremely valuable as it serves as a habitat for thousands of animal and plant species. This makes it all the more important to balance the various ways in which the park is used so that humans and nature can coexist as harmoniously as possible. 

Deadwood - home to many species

Jorat Park has introduced a concept for maintaining and sustaining its trails so that the negative impact of the many recreational activities is kept in check. “Activities are now only permitted on designated trails, and we maintain them so that they are easy to use,” explained Melanie Annen, Project Manager of Nature and Monitoring in Jorat Park. Intrusions on nature, such as when plants are cut back at the edges of trails, only occur in places where the vegetation interferes with recreational activities. The project AXA is supporting aims to harmonize the various uses of the forest. Park maintenance workers only intervene where their efforts will have a positive impact on biodiversity. Watch the video to find out about the projects park employees have launched to preserve biodiversity and the role candle tree deadwood plays.