Dangerous Change of System: The Loss of Swiss Forest
By adopting the entirely superfluous Würth motion to increase flexibility in reforestation compensation, the National Council has decided on a dangerous change of system: away from the 150-year tradition of maintaining forest area and towards its decimation.
A decline in forest area in the Mittelland is thus inevitable.
For nearly 150 years, the Swiss Forest Act has served the principle of preserving forest area. Following a forest clearing, the same area must therefore be reforested. According to official surveys this clearly reflects the wishes of the Swiss population as well (78 percent are in favour). However, with the adoption of the Würth motion “For greater flexibility in reforestation compensation,” this principle has today been significantly weakened.
Forest clearings without reforestation as the norm?
According to the motion by St. Gallen Center Party Council of States member Benjamin Würth, at least 50 percent of cleared forest area should in future be compensated not through new forest but through the enhancement of existing forest. From the perspective of forestry and nature conservation, this represents a dangerous change of system: away from preserving Swiss forest and towards its decimation. “After 150 years of successful commitment to the protection and promotion of forests, this would open the door to clearing forest areas without having to replace them,” says Elena Strozzi, Head of Forest Policy at Pro Natura, expressing her outrage.
The whole matter also comes at the worst possible time: Swiss forests are currently already under severe pressure due to climate change and competition over land use, as the current Forest Report 2025 of FOEN shows. In the Mittelland and the Jura, forest area is already declining. Many Mittelland cantons have also already established a static forest boundary drawn. Here, the forest can no longer grow according to planning, but only decrease. “It is precisely in these cantons that the most clearings are to be expected,” explains Strozzi. “Without replacement, a further reduction in forest area is virtually inevitable here.”
Clearing replacement already possible in exceptional cases today
The current Forest Act already provides for the possibility of clearing replacement in exceptional cases. According to forestry experts, this regulation works well in practice. The weakening of the Forest Act thus serves the interests of the construction and agricultural sectors one-sidedly — at the expense of the forest. At the same time, pressing challenges for the forest such as climate adaptation, forest regeneration, wildlife populations, budget cuts, and CO₂ storage capacity are being neglected. In order to ensure the important functions of the forest as a habitat, recreational space, timber supplier, and climate and precipitation regulator in the future, the forest must be preserved in its extent and distribution.
