Mountains, valleys, forests, bodies of water, cultural landscapes and settlement areas. The canton of Valais is rich in a wide variety of habitats. It is home to a great variety of wild animals. However, we know very little about the occurrence and distribution of many of these animal neighbors. The "Wild Neighbors Valais" project aims to change this with the support of the population.
In addition to the natural areas and rural areas, the settlement area also has an astonishingly high diversity of plants and animals. 40 of the approximately 90 mammal species and around half of all amphibian and reptile species in Switzerland also colonize our villages and towns. Some wild animals - such as foxes and squirrels - are easy to spot, while others such as badgers and shrews are rarely seen. And hand on heart: who knows their wild neighbors by name, whether they are plants, insects, birds or mammals, or can tell the difference between a marten and an ermine?

Wild neighbors now also in Valais

This is where the "Wild Neighbors Valais" project comes in. It aims to sensitize the population to the biodiversity on their doorstep. The offer was developed by the StadtNatur association, which has already coordinated the nationwide Citizen Science campaign to report mammal observations for the Mammal Atlas of Switzerland. With the support of the Migros Cooperative Federation, it is now being rolled out in new regions of Switzerland and is being actively used by the public.
It is now also being established in the canton of Valais, in collaboration with the Pfyn-Finges Nature Park and the Binntal Landscape Park, supported by an advisory group with Fauna VS (Valais Society for Wildlife Biology), the Valais Nature Museum and La Murithienne (Société valaisanne des Sciences Naturelles).

Interactive web platform

The project is based on the web platform wallis.wildenachbarn.ch (and valais.nosvoisinssauvages.ch). It provides information about the biology and way of life of wild animals living in Valais, with a focus on wild animals that also live in urban areas, gives observation tips and shows what everyone can do to promote and protect them. A newsletter provides regular information about events and offers. The public is invited to enter their own observations of wild animals. Over time, the continuous collection of such random observations provides a good picture of the distribution of animals in and around the settlement area. This allows us to close gaps in our knowledge about the use of our habitats, particularly in our neighborhoods, by larger and smaller wild animals.

Establishment of an observer network

One of the goals of "Wild Neighbors Valais" is to establish a long-term network of active nature observers who enter their observations on the web platform and actively participate in projects to collect evidence of selected animal species. The data will later allow conclusions to be drawn about the occurrence, population development or lifestyle of wild animals in our neighborhood - an indispensable basis for their protection, promotion or management.