Wild haymaking on the roof of Europe

Dry meadows and pastures in the mountains are not only beautiful to look at, but also of national importance thanks to their biodiversity. But without care, the green spaces become overgrown with bushes, turn into forests or erode. In order to ensure the preservation of the beautiful meadows, we need to look after them today – a not-so-easy task.

The project in Avers

Wild haymaking has been a tradition for centuries on dry meadows and pastures in steep terrain that is difficult or impossible to reach with animals. However, the intense effort and meager yield mean that less and less land is being cultivated. There are several such areas of grassland in Avers, the highest-altitude year-round settlement in Europe.

As part of our Flora Futura social initiative, a project was started to improve such unused areas for the first time in order to promote biodiversity. The aim of the project is to ensure that the meadows can be taken over and managed by a farm in the long term.

Measures

• Madris: Mowing and haying of two areas (7,900 and 2,200 m²)
• Camsut Cröt: Mowing and haying of two areas (4,200 and 3,600 m²)
• Cresta: Haying an area together with the Harvest Relief Project (1 hectare)
• Construction of a trestle in front of a farm
• Alp Cresta: Clearing the pasture of small pine trees (1 hectare)
• Juf: Clearing a fallow dry meadow of small stones (5,000 m²)
• Madris: Clearing a meadow of small stones (6,000 m²)
• Madris: Disposal of dead wood from green alders that have been eaten away (2,000 m²)

Volunteer work – what's been accomplished

A group of volunteers took care of a steep, fallow dry meadow of about two hectares. The area could not be accessed by machinery or farmed by animals. Instead, muscles and teamwork were called for: Mowing, raking and even transporting the hay down to the valley was done by hand. On rainy days, stones were also removed from the mowing areas to keep the meadow open and usable for the long term.