Zürich Wilderness Park

Zürich Wilderness Park (German: Wildnispark Zürich) is a wilderness park near the city of Zürich in Switzerland. It includes the Sihlwald forest, the largest mixed deciduous and coniferous forest in the Swiss Mittelland, and the Langenberg Wildlife Park, the oldest Swiss wildlife park. Both sites are situated in the Sihl Valley to the south of Zürich, but are separated from each other by the town of Langnau am Albis.[1]

Zürich Wilderness Park
Wildnispark Zurich
Map showing the two sites of the Zürich Wilderness Park, with the Langenberg Wildlife Park to the north and the larger Sihlwald to the south
Nearest cityZurich
Coordinates47.26°N 8.55°E / 47.26; 8.55
www.wildnispark.ch

History
The Sihlwald

The city of Zürich received the Sihl forest, or Sihlwald, as a gift in 1309 from the Hapsburgers and again in 1524 through the dissolution of the Fraumünster convent. Over the following centuries, the forest provided Zürich with timber and firewood. However, the trees have not been felled since the 1990s; this is due to the actions of forest director Andreas Speich, in order to preserve the forest's unique composition.[2][3]

In 1869, Langenberg Wildlife Park was founded by the city forester Carl Anton Ludwig von Orelli.[1]

On August 28, 2009, the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) declared the Sihl forest a "regional nature park of national importance".[4] The protection of Sihl forest was established through a forest reserve agreement in 2007 and a cantonal Protection Ordinance in 2008.[3]

The Zürich Wilderness Park was formed in 2009, by the merger of the Langenberg Wildlife Park and the Sihlwald forest. Today, the park welcomes more than half a million yearly visitors, who are encouraged to barbecue, hike, cycle, and even ride horseback through the park, as well as visit its museum and attend various outdoor events.[1][5]

Sites
The Langenberg Wildlife Park

The Zürich Wilderness Park comprises two disconnected sites:

  • The Langenberg Wildlife Park, a zoo situated in the municipality of Langnau am Albis some 12 km (7.5 mi) south of Zürich. Langenberg is home to a zoo with 16 native or formerly native animals such as bears, beavers, elk, hare, lynxes, wild boar, wolves, European bison and Przewalski’s horse.[1][6]
  • The Sihlwald forest, largely situated in the municipality of Horgen but also spreading into several adjoining municipalities. It is situated on both banks of the Sihl river, although mostly on the western slopes rising up to the Albis hills. The forest covers approximately 12 square kilometres (4.6 sq mi) and is between 14 km (8.7 mi) and 21 km (13 mi) south of Zürich. It is the only Swiss peri-urban nature reserve, and consists of mostly beech trees, some of which are up to 250 years old. The majority of the trees are about 120 years old.[1][2][3][7][8]

Both sites can be reached via rail service S4 of the Zurich S-Bahn, using Wildpark-Höfli station for the Langenberg Wildlife Park and Sihlwald station for the Sihlwald forest.

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See also

References
  1. "Wildnispark Zurich" (PDF). Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  2. Brigitte Commarmot; Hansheinrich Bachofen; Yosyp Bundziak; Anton Bürgi; Bernhard Ramp; Yuriy Shparyk; Dmytro Sukhariuk; Roman Viter; Andreas Zingg (2005). "Structures of virgin and managed beech forests in Uholka (Ukraine) and Sihlwald (Switzerland): a comparative study" (PDF). Forest Snow and Landscape Research. 79 (1/2): 45–56. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  3. "Wilderness Park Zurich Sihlwald" (PDF). Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  4. "Wildnispark Zurich". Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  5. "Wildnispark Zürich" [Zurich Wilderness Park] (in German). City of Zürich. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  6. map.geo.admin.ch (Langenberg) (Map). Swiss Confederation. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  7. Seeland, Klaus; Moser, Kuno; Scheuthle, Hannah; Kaiser, Florian G. (January 2002). "Public acceptance of restrictions imposed on recreational activities in the peri-urban Nature Reserve Sihlwald, Switzerland". Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 1 (1): 49–57. doi:10.1078/1618-8667-00006.
  8. map.geo.admin.ch (Sihlwald) (Map). Swiss Confederation. Retrieved 29 June 2015.


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