Regional Mountain Conference

Switzerland’s mountain landscapes have been shaped and maintained by agriculture for centuries and are an important part of our identity and economy. However, climate change is altering these landscapes visibly and poses increasing challenges for mountain farming. Adaptations are therefore needed to ensure the sustainable management of mountain areas as part of a landscape conservation strategy. Needs-based and automated irrigation of mountain meadows is part of a portfolio of such adaptation strategies. It is considered a proactive measure to avoid resource conflicts and ensure the long-term sustainable use of valuable mountain landscapes, despite changes in the accessibility, the predictability, as well as the amount of irrigation water. Using two examples from Valais and Val Poschiavo in Switzerland, this presentation illustrates the application of resource-saving and sustainable model-based irrigation of mountain meadows in public-private partnerships with researchers, park authorities, individual farmers, local cooperatives, and small-to-medium enterprises.