Forest owners demand compensation for bike infrastructure
Published: Wednesday, Mar 6th 2024, 15:00
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Forest owners should be compensated for their mountain biking services. The Association of Swiss Forest Owners has proposed an annual amount of between 1 and 2 francs per meter of forest land made available.
In particular, additional expenses and reduced yields in forest management are to be compensated, as the Association of Swiss Forest Owners (Wald Schweiz) announced on Wednesday.
According to the proposal, the compensation should be graded according to the intensity of use and the standard of development. According to Wald Schweiz, the Triemli bike trail on the Uetliberg in Zurich shows that the proposed amount is justified. This mountain bike trail currently has over 60,000 descents per year. The annual recreational value of the 3.5-kilometre trail is estimated at several hundred thousand francs.
Difficult conditions
In the vicinity of official mountain bike infrastructures and along illegal trails, forest managers are confronted with more difficult conditions. For example, they have to take additional safety measures, and in some cases, timber harvesting is also more complex.
With the increasing number of people seeking recreation, the potential for conflict has also increased, the association wrote. Steering measures could help to defuse the problems. Forest Switzerland called on the cantons to formulate their regulations clearly, taking into account the federal legal framework.
Mountain biking has become increasingly popular in recent years. According to the association, there are over 30,000 kilometers of forest roads and 20,000 kilometers of signposted hiking trails in the Swiss forests.
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