Care of Chrutzelen / Seleger Moor raised bog

The Nature Network has been carrying out various works on the Chrutzelen raised bog in Rifferswil since 2010. The area directly behind the Albis near Rifferswil is famous throughout Switzerland for the Seleger Rhododendron Park - the largest in Switzerland. But behind the gardening businesses and the rhododendron park lies the area's real treasure: the raised bog. Here is a refuge for rare plant and animal species that depend on the special living conditions in the raised bog.

The nature network was commissioned to maintain the ponds and keep the valuable moorland areas open. The first step was to use an underwater mower to mow out the existing reed beds and fish the cuttings out of the water. This measure is intended to further promote the greater damselfly ( Leucorrhinia pectoralis L. ). In addition, a third of a peat pond was mown in the autumn. Next, the civil servants, armed with chest-high rubber boots and appropriate special tools, were allowed to fish out the silt and other dead plant material from the bottom of the ponds. This smelly material was deposited at the edge of the ponds so that the insects and larvae in it could migrate back into the pond and so that the material could dry out before being disposed of. The weeding work saved numerous valuable moorland areas from becoming overgrown and overgrown with blackberries and bracken, for example.

Young buckthorn growth was trimmed from marked test areas. This was done to assess whether this approach is more beneficial for preserving the moorland than if the buckthorns were mowed regularly. In addition, an area was mowed with a scythe mower, which should make it easier to control blackberries in this area. During the autumn and winter work, an existing moat was dug out, a bridge was moved and the path was re-signposted and marked.