European Geologist European Geologist Geoheritage - learning ...

Geoheritage protection and promotion in
Switzerland
Emmanuel Reynard*
Switzerland has a long history of geoheritage
protection but it is only during the last
two decades that a growing attention has
been given to geoheritage protection and
promotion. This paper presents the legal
framework for geoheritage protection in
Switzerland, and the present situation concerning
geosite protection and geoparks.
Even if improvements have been made
recently, geoscientists have failed at their
attempts to carry out a national inventory
of geosites that has legal value. As a result,
the development of geoparks in Switzerland
is relatively slow in comparison with other
European countries.
Switzerland has a long history of geoheritage
protection: the first example
is an erratic boulder (Pierre-à-Bot,
Neuchâtel) that was placed under protection
in 1838 on the demand of Louis
Agassiz. Erratic blocks can therefore be
considered as the first natural objects to
be protected at a national level (Vischer,
1946; Reynard, 2004). Nevertheless, in the
20 th century, the protection of geoheritage
slowly became secondary as a part of nature
conservation. It is only during the last two
decades that a new interest in geoheritage
protection and promotion has developed,
first among geologists, and more generally
in society, as it is the case in other European
countries (Reynard et al., 2011). In
this paper, the situation concerning geosite
protection and geoparks in Switzerland is
presented.
Legal framework
At the Federal level, geoconservation is
mainly regulated by two pieces of legislation:
the Federal Nature Protection Act,
adopted in 1966, and the Federal Town and
Country Planning Act, adopted in 1979.
The main objectives of the former are the
protection of landscapes, natural monu-
* Institute of Geography and
Sustainability, University of Lausanne,
emmanuel.reynard@unil.ch
La Suisse a une longue histoire dans la protection
du patrimoine géologique, mais ce
n’est qu’au cours des deux dernières décennies
qu’un nouvel intérêt pour la protection
des géopatrimoines et leur valorisation
s’est développée. Cet article présente le
cadre légal de la protection du patrimoine
géologique, ainsi que la situation actuelle
concernant la protection des géosites et la
création de géoparcs en Suisse. Même si
des améliorations ont eu lieu récemment,
les géologues n’ont pas réussi à réaliser un
inventaire de géosites ayant une valeur
légale et le développement des géoparcs
peut être qualifié de relativement lent en
comparaison européenne.
ments and biotopes. The latter focuses on
land-use planning based on land-use zones,
such as building, agricultural or protected
areas. Protection zones can be defined at
various scales for rivers, lakes, moors, biotopes,
natural and cultural monuments,
and landscapes. Once nature conservation
zones are approved, the decision is generally
binding on authorities and landowners.
The Nature Protection Act is implemented
at two main administrative levels.
Nature protection is the responsibility of
the Cantons 1 . The Swiss Confederation
can commission inventories of objects of
national significance. Accordingly, inventories
of historical buildings, upland biotopes
and landscapes, alluvial zones, dry lands,
as well as historical roads have been carried
out. An inventory of geosites does not
exist at the moment – and is not planned
– within the framework of the Nature
Protection Act. The existing Inventory of
Swiss geosites (SCNAT, 1999), currently
under revision, undertaken by a group of
experts from the Swiss Academy of Sci-
1 Switzerland is subdivided in several
independent political units (Cantons) to
whom a certain degree of freedom is left to
apply federal laws. Each Canton is further
subdivided into smaller entities (Communes
or Municipalities) that can have more or less
sovereignty in land and resource management.
Suiza tiene una larga tradición en la protección
del patrimonio geológico, pero no ha
sido sino en las últimas dos décadas que
el interés por la protección y promoción
del patrimonio geológico ha crecido. Este
artículo presenta el marco legal de la protección
del patrimonio geológico en Suiza,
y la situación actual en relación con la
protección de lugares de interés geológico
y los geoparques. A pesar de que recientemente
se han logrado grandes avances, los
geólogos no han conseguido realizar un
inventario nacional de lugares de interés
geológico que tenga soporte legal. Como
consecuencia de lo cual el desarrollo de los
geoparques en Suiza es relativamente lento
con respecto a otros países europeos.
ences (SCNAT), must be considered as an
informal catalogue of sites, worthy of interest,
but with no legal status.
Geoparks are territories with welldefined
limits that comprise a rich and
diversified geological and geomorphologic
heritage and that should serve to foster sustainable
development (Zouros, 2004). As a
result of this double purpose – geoheritage
and sustainable development – geoparks
development in Switzerland depends on
both Nature Protection and Land Planning
Acts. In 2006, the Nature Protection
Act was modified, allowing the creation of
three types of natural parks under financial
support from the Swiss Confederation:
National Parks (NP), Regional Natural
Parks (RNP), and Periurban Natural Parks
(PNP). Each category has specific features
and is composed of zones with different
protection status. The central zones of NP
and PNP, as well as the natural elements of
RNP, contain natural objects, which may be
geological or geomorphological. As a result,
Switzerland now has a network of 18 recognized
natural parks (www.swiss-parks.ch).
Geoconservation
Because nature conservation is the
responsibility of the Cantons, the current
state of geoheritage protection can vary substantially
from one canton to another (Fig.
44