Indicator natural hazards

Maintained protective forest area

Protective forest maintenance, i.e. maintenance measures, helps ensure the protective effect of protective forests over the long term. Well-timed, consistent measures must be taken to avoid problems such as maintenance residues or deficient regeneration. Accordingly, the indicator serves as a direct control parameter for such measures. Protective forest maintenance means that protective structures are maintained. They consist of efforts by public authorities to maintain protective forests.

Assessment of the state
medium medium
Assessment of the trend
unsatisfactory unsatisfactory
Target: 10'000 ha/Jahr 2021: 10000 Target: 10'000 ha/Jahr 2020: 10000 Target: 10'000 ha/Jahr 2019: 10000 Target: 10'000 ha/Jahr 2018: 10000 Target: 10'000 ha/Jahr 2017: 10000 Target: 10'000 ha/Jahr 2016: 10000 Target: 10'000 ha/Jahr 2015: 10000 Target: 10'000 ha/Jahr 2014: 10000 Target: 10'000 ha/Jahr 2013: 10000 Target: 10'000 ha/Jahr 2012: 10000 Maintained protective forest area according to reporting under programme agreements between the Confederation and cantons 2021: 9592 Maintained protective forest area according to reporting under programme agreements between the Confederation and cantons 2020: 8701 Maintained protective forest area according to reporting under programme agreements between the Confederation and cantons 2019: 8728 Maintained protective forest area according to reporting under programme agreements between the Confederation and cantons 2018: 9502 Maintained protective forest area according to reporting under programme agreements between the Confederation and cantons 2017: 10000 Maintained protective forest area according to reporting under programme agreements between the Confederation and cantons 2016: 9818 Maintained protective forest area according to reporting under programme agreements between the Confederation and cantons 2015: 10253.632 Maintained protective forest area according to reporting under programme agreements between the Confederation and cantons 2014: 9757.888 Maintained protective forest area according to reporting under programme agreements between the Confederation and cantons 2013: 9629.16 Maintained protective forest area according to reporting under programme agreements between the Confederation and cantons 2012: 7158.38

Data for the graph: Excel
Source: FOEN NFE controlling
Comment

The legal requirements for care of protection forest are set out in the Forest Act. The cantons are responsible for managing protection forest. They receive federal subsidies to do so under a series of programme agreements, meeting part of the costs themselves, as is usual with joint tasks. The maintenance of protection forest is carried out by public or private forestry companies.

The programme agreements between the Confederation and the cantons generally run for a four-year period. The cantons decide how they want to implement the requirement over the four-year period, i.e. how much protection forest area they want to manage each year. This means that the actual area of forest managed annually varies within the agreement period. It is expected that an average of around 10,000 ha of protection forest will be managed annually (across all cantons). In 2021 around 9,592 ha of protection forest was managed.

Despite this basically positive development, the target has not yet been fully achieved.

International comparison

The indicator cannot be compared internationally. In fact, this indicator puts Switzerland a step ahead of other countries, which use only the entire area of protective forests as an indicator.

Method

As part of the new system of fiscal equalisation and division of tasks between the Confederation and cantons (NFE), protective forest measures are the object of programme agreements in the area of the environment. For the purpose of controlling the programme agreements, annual reports by the cantons are submitted to the FOEN. Data on the maintained protective forests are provided in these reports. The definitive value can only be recorded every four years since the cantonal results in conjunction with annual reporting also include a so-called rectification in the fifth year. Due to the use of annual values, a differential occurs in the actually maintained protective forest area throughout the programme agreement period.

Basis for assessment of the trend
Targeted trend Initial value Final value Deviation from theoretical path in% Observed trend Assessment
10000 n 2021 2012 2021 85.64% Towards theoretical path unsatisfactory
 
Last updated on: 15.09.2022

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