Keep on the grass
The Swiss take pride in their lush landscapes, and Bolly wood buffs know why. The breathtaking alpine pastures of this small mountain country have replaced strife-torn Sri nagar and polluted and overpopulated Ooty as a backdrop for frolicking fantasies as our buxom actresses and burly actors join Heidi in yodeling on the hills. Besides reflecting the recent global aspirations of the Indian middle class, Bollywood seems to have cast off Indian landscapes as sullied and un worthy. This is not causing sleepless nights at the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests, whose minstrels would rather keep people out than in their vast domain of ecologically sensitive areas. Indian natural resource managers could do with a lesson on how the Swiss plan to ensure that their landscapes keep the registers ringing with revenue from tourism, and yet conserve their beauty.
From mid-May to September every year, tourists in search of peace and beauty head for the short-lived but dramatic annual display of wild flowers in the alpine meadows of Switzerland, where silence is broken only by the occasional tinkling of cowbells. Strictly speaking, the terms ‘alpine meadow’ or ‘alpine pasture’ refer only to the region in any mountain range that is just above the natural tree line, and just below the snow line. The ‘tree line’ is the altitude beyond which trees can no longer grow, because of severe weather conditions. The area is covered in snow for all but six or seven weeks in a year, leaving a very short vegetation period. As a result, beyond this altitude, which for the Swiss Alps could be anywhere between 1700 and 24/2700 metres above sea level (msl), there are only dwarf shrubs and grassland.
Battling heavy snowfall, frost and low oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations gives the plants in this region special characteristics, many having medicinal properties They are more nutritious for wild and domestic animals than lowland plants, which grow slower and hence have a higher fibre content. Most are endemic to high altitude meadows. And most put on a floral display to attract pollinators and complete a cycle of life within short but splendid lives.
The mix of highly nutritious grasses and legumes in the alpine regions has attracted graziers to trek up every summer with their cattle for centuries. Because Swiss agriculture is oriented towards livestock production that provides more than two-thirds of the country’s agrarian income, these alpine pastures are a very important part of agriculture. Milk is by far the most important product of Swiss farming, and forms the raw material for two famous Swiss exports
Related Content
- Action taken report by District Magistrate Chamoli regarding Benital lake, Chamoli, Uttarakhand, 26/02/2024
- Judgment of the National Green Tribunal regarding concretization of open spaces and green belts in Punjab, 30/01/2024
- Ethiopia: Boosting Swift Forages Said Critical to Combat Climate Change Impact
- Keep off the grass: Research confirms that highly manicured lawns produce more greenhouse gases than they soak up
- Jaipur Zoo animals to get cold cover this season
- Himachal villagers resist pine monoculture, reclaim forests for fodder