OrganizationPublished on 21 November 2025

Sector Natural Hazards and Forest

The Natural Hazards & Forest Sector comprises the Hazard Prevention, Hydrology and Forest divisions.

Hazard Prevention Division

The Division is responsible for dealing with the risks to human life, the environment and major assets arising from avalanches, floods, debris flows, landslides, rockfall processes, earthquakes and major accidents.

Hydrology Division

The Hydrology Division ensures that Switzerland has the hydrological information it needs for its sustainable development. The division operates the national surface water and groundwater monitoring networks, which measure water quantity and quality. It also prepares hydrological forecasts, issues flood warnings and provides information in the event of drought.

Forest Division

The forest division supports the sustainable use and tending of the forest as well as favourable framework conditions for efficient and innovative forest management and timber industry.

Direction

Paul Steffen is Deputy Director General of the FOEN and member of the management board of the FOEN. He leads the Natural Hazards and Forest sector.

Paul Steffen (1962) grew up in Bellikon (canton of Aargau). He studied agronomy at the ETH Zurich and was awarded a doctorate in 1992. Within the scope of an extra-occupational education programme at the University of St Gallen (HSG), he obtained an Executive MBA degree in 2018.
From 1992 to 2001 he worked at the Federal Office for Agriculture FOAG, initially as Head of the Research Unit and from 1994 as Assistant Director of the Research, Education and Consultancy Directorate. In 1999 he completed specialised further training at Colorado State University. In October 2000, the Federal Council appointed him Director of the then Swiss Federal Research Station for Agroecology and Agriculture (FAL) in Zürich-Reckenholz. He remained there until 2005 and was also Director of the FAL site in Tänikon (Thurgau) from 2006 to 2013. The merger of the FAL sites led to the establishment of Agroscope, the Swiss centre of excellence for agricultural research, of which Paul Steffen was Director from 2014 to 2017.
Paul Steffen has been Vice Director of the Federal Department for the Environment FOEN since 2017 and Deputy Director since 2022. He heads the directorate Natural Hazards and Forest.

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Contact

Elif Jaoski
Function: Direktionsassistent
Tel.: +41 58 465 58 78
E-Mail: elif.jaoski@bafu.admin.ch