UNESCO World Heritage Trail – Bench No. 10: Tradition and Nature – From Harsh Living to Flourishing Diversity

Name: UNESCO World Heritage Trail – Bench No. 10: Tradition and Nature – From Harsh Living to Flourishing Diversity
Address: Suisse

History of Agriculture

For a long time, no more than 200 people lived in Kandersteg, surviving on a meagre mountain farming existence. With the advent of tourism, many earned extra income as porters, muleteers or mountain guides. Today, only a few farms remain, primarily engaged in dairy farming and cattle breeding. Arable farming has largely disappeared, although until the 1950s the land was almost entirely planted with potatoes. Alpine farming continues to follow the principle of transhumance, with cattle moving between altitudinal zones to graze.

Agriculture is vital for maintaining meadows and pastures, and thus for preserving the diverse, open landscape and its biodiversity. Kandersteg is home to a rich plant life, including rare species such as 27 varieties of orchids. Orchids require a special soil fungus that only survives in nutrient-poor soils. The yellow lady’s-slipper orchid, strictly protected and endangered, can be found here, along with flowers such as martagon lily, edelweiss, vanilla orchid, dark-violet columbine, paradise lily and the purple helleborine.

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