The 28th August 2009 was a red-letter day for the Swiss parks network (umbrella organisation of parks and park projects in Switzerland). The Federal Office for the Environment granted 8 out of 9 requests for the creation of parks and acknowledged two new parks as “Park of national importance”. Hence, the landscape of Swiss parks continuously takes on better forms.

Besides the Swiss National Park, Switzerland disposes of three other parks of national importance: the Unesco biosphere reserve Entlebuch (since 2008), which now is joined by the Wilderness Park Zürich (Sihlwald) and the Nature Regional Park Thal.

To the 7 parks labelled as candidates, because of being in their creation processes, 7 additional parks are added. At first glance, all these 14 projects are deemed to satisfy the requirements for becoming “Park of national importance”. However, they have to establish their management basics and to gain the recognition of the confederation.

The landscape of Swiss parks is currently very dynamic. In January 2010, further inquiries for the creation and implementation of new parks are expected.

Please refer to the official press release (in French and German) for more information.