Binntal landscape park
The Binntal Landscape Park is a regional nature park of national importance and is located in Upper Valais in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
Geographical location
The Binntal Landscape Park comprises the six villages of Binn , Ernen , Grengiols , Bister , Niederwald and Blitzingen in the canton of Valais (Switzerland). Niederwald and Blitzingen have belonged to the municipality of Goms since 2017. The park thus includes parts of the Goms district and the Ostlich Raron district . In the south, the Binntal landscape park borders the Parco naturale dell'Alpe Veglia e dell'Alpe Devero , the oldest nature park in Piedmont (Italy).
History of the park
In 1964 the municipality of Binn, the Walliser Bund für Naturschutz (now Pro Natura Wallis ) and the Monte Rosa section of the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) signed a contract for a period of 100 years, which placed 46.5 km² of the Binn valley under protection. Part of the contract is the waiver of the use of hydropower and the construction of tourist infrastructures (resolution of the original meeting of September 17, 1964).
The rear Binntal (5090 ha) was included in the Federal Inventory of Landscapes and Natural Monuments of National Importance (BLN) in 1977.
The Albrun moorland and the Oxefeld and Blatt bogs were placed under protection by the canton of Valais in 1999 .
In 2002 the municipalities of Binn, Ernen and Grengiols launched a project for a nature park (160 km²).
In 2007, the Federal Parliament passed the legal basis for the creation of new parks in Switzerland. Since then, nine articles in the Federal Law on Nature Conservation and Heritage Protection (NHG) have been devoted to parks of national importance. The ordinances for these parks are regulated in detail by the NHG.
The park was recognized as a regional nature park by the federal government and the canton in 2008. The park perimeter was expanded in 2009 to include the three municipalities of Blitzingen, Niederwald and Bister. The park now covered an area of 180 km² and in 2011 received the definitive label for a regional nature park from the federal government . A success check is to be carried out in 2021 and a decision on whether to continue the project will be made.
Natural and cultural values
A variety of animals, plants and habitats are at home in the Binntal Landscape Park. 184 animal and plant species on the Red List have been discovered to date. The landscape includes flat moors, grasslands, spruce forests, alpine meadows, glacier foreland, pine forests, mountain lakes, rocky steppes and alpine floodplains. This diversity was favored by various factors such as the climate, the exposure and the diverse structured geological subsoil, as well as the traditional management of the agricultural areas, which enabled a high level of biodiversity. Even today, the region is characterized by mountain farming. The highest point of the Binntal landscape park is the Helsenhorn at 3272 m above sea level. M.
The Binntal Landscape Park also has a valuable cultural landscape. Numerous chapels, churches, barns and granaries are considered cultural assets of cantonal and national importance. The settlements with dark larch houses are largely intact. In 1979 Ernen received the Wakker Prize from the Swiss Homeland Security Service in recognition of its townscape. Mühlebach has the oldest wooden village center in Switzerland. Several sites have found their way into the federal inventory of sites of national importance (ISOS):
- Hamlet Schmidigehischere and Wileren (Binn)
- Hamlet of Fäld (Binn)
- Ernen village
- Hamlet Mühlebach (Ernen)
- Grengiols village
- Niederwald village
- Hamlets Bodmen, Ammern, Wiler and Gadmen (Blitzingen)
Protected areas
| National inventories | Area in ha |
|---|---|
| Federal inventory of landscapes and natural monuments | 5'090 ha |
| Federal inventory of moorlands | 352 ha |
| Flat moors of national importance | 9 ha |
| Dry meadows and pastures of national importance | 83 ha |
| Federal inventory of historical traffic routes in Switzerland | Twingi Gorge |
| Cantonal inventories | Area in ha |
|---|---|
| Nature and landscape protection areas | 3,494 ha |
| No hunting areas | 2,142 ha |
| Archaeological protection areas | 168 ha |
| Municipal inventories | Area in ha |
|---|---|
| Nature and landscape protection areas | 306 ha |
| Protected agricultural zone | 147 hectares |
Mineral wealth
The Binntal was best known for its minerals . Over 320 different types of mineral were found, over 150 of them in the Lengenbach mineral mine, which is one of the most important mineral discovery sites on earth. The Binntal has 40 minerals as a type locality.
The Albrun Pass
The old mule track over the Albrun Pass ( Bocchetta d'Arbola in Italian ), which connects the Binntal Landscape Park and the neighboring Parco Naturale Veglia-Devero , is the most important historical route in the area. The Albrun Pass (2409 m above sea level) was presumably already climbed in the younger Iron Age. Remains of Celtic settlements and graves were found near Schmidigehischere in Binn. In Roman times the pass gained in importance, which is supported by several grave finds in the Binn valley. In the Twingischlucht the traces of the old Roman road are still visible today.
Traffic over the pass was already significant in the Middle Ages, but from the 11th century the Simplon Pass became more and more important. The Walsers have been using the pass to settle the Valle d'Ossola since the beginning of the 13th century . In the 15th century, the Simplon Pass was made more difficult due to the armed conflicts between the Valais and Lombardy , so the Albrun Pass served as an alternative route. It was an important trade route for the transport of all kinds of goods and food between north and south. The pass was also used by smugglers and partisans.
Early tourism
The occurrence of minerals played a major role in the development of tourism. In the second half of the 19th century, the valley was particularly popular with English tourists. The mule track through the Twingi Gorge was expanded in 1864 and the Hotel Ofenhorn was opened in 1883. Around 1900 the income from tourism was sometimes higher than the income from the farms.
The old road through the Twingischlucht gorge known as hiking and today Veloweg is used and historical inventory routes in Switzerland heard was opened 1938th Binn has been reached through a two-kilometer tunnel since 1964.
Museums in the park
- Regional museum in Binn: The basement includes a mineral exhibition, the first floor is dedicated to objects of cultural history from agriculture, handicrafts and tourism, and on the upper floor there is an archaeological collection.
- Jost Sigristen Museum in Ernen: Once the home of Jakob Valentin Sigristen (1733–1808), the last governor of the old Republic of Valais before the occupation by Napoleonic troops, the exhibition shows his apartment with office, dining room and kitchen.
- Church museum in Ernen: In addition to the church treasure with reliquaries, monstrances and chalices, the collection includes a rich inventory of textiles from Genoa and Milan. The church museum can be visited during village tours.
- Zendenrathaus in Ernen: The courthouse contained two dark prison cells and a torture chamber. The court ruled on the defendants on the first floor. A rich collection of documents is on display on the top floor, including an original letter from Cardinal Matthäus Schiner from 1517. The Zendenrathaus can be visited during guided tours of the village.
- Mineral museum in Fäld: Next to the mineral shop in Fäld is the mineral museum by André Gorsatt. The Walliser Strahler has dedicated itself to collecting minerals in the Binntal for more than 50 years and has put together a unique collection of local minerals in the process.
See also
Web links
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- W. Kraft: The Binntal protects itself. In: Heimatschutz, Volume 60 (1965).
- Decision regarding the protection of the «Albrun» moorland, the «Oxefeld» moor and the «Blatt» moor in Binn.
- Federal law on nature and homeland protection (NHG, SR 451).
- Ordinance on parks of national importance (Park Ordinance, PäV, SR 451.36).
- Ordinance on the protection of moorlands of particular beauty and of national importance (Moorlands Ordinance, SR 451.35).
- Federal Inventory of Landscapes and Natural Monuments of National Importance (BLN).
- Federal inventory of Swiss sites of national importance worthy of protection (ISOS).
Coordinates: 46 ° 23 '2.6 " N , 8 ° 12' 9.7" E ; CH1903: six hundred fifty-eight thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight / 137251