Maintenance of hedges and copses in public areas

In the nature park municipality of Salgesch, hedges are part of the valuable cultural landscape. Some of these hedges and copses are located on public land. In collaboration with the Pfyn-Finges Nature Park office and the Swiss Ornithological Institute, the municipality of Salgesch has launched a project to maintain its hedges and copses in the long term.

Hedges and copses have a high ecological and landscape value and require regular maintenance. For the maintenance concept, the first step was to carry out a field survey in which the hedges and copses on public land were mapped and assessed. These were then assigned to three different priorities. As a result, the employees of the maintenance depot have a map showing all hedges and copses in public areas according to maintenance priorities. Hedges with priority 1 are maintained first, followed by hedges with priorities 2 and 3. The hedges are then assessed in a cycle of around five years and any necessary maintenance work is carried out.

These long-term, recurring maintenance measures ensure that the ecological and landscape value can be maintained or even increased. All maintenance interventions are based on maintenance principles that aim to ensure that the natural functions of a hedge are not impaired. To this end, the employees of the Salgesch maintenance depot are trained and the work is supervised by the nature park and the ornithological station in an advisory capacity.

The Pfyn-Finges Nature Park wants to implement the project with other interested nature park communities. Private individuals can also obtain advice from the Pfyn-Finges Nature Park.