Bourgeoisie de St-Gingolph: Valais, chestnut groves
Highlighting the cultivation of Swiss chestnuts
The Valais project to upgrade the landscape and environment of St-Gingolph’s chestnut heritage has several objectives:
To revitalise 21 hectares of historic chestnut groves, developing the local chestnut tree sites once threatened by disease (Castanea sativa) and planting 2000 young plants;
To preserve 65 endemic chestnut varieties, promoting plant biodiversity;
To highlight the Swiss landscape, supporting the development of local know-how, in particular by rehabilitating the boichons: circular stone structures intended to preserve chestnuts;
To raise awareness about chestnut cultivation, creating an educational programme and producing a specialised publication.
The project meets several criteria defined at the Rio de Janeiro Summit held in 1992:
Environmental dimension through the preservation of biodiversity
Landscape dimension through the development of a traditional landscape
Local dimension through the promotion of Swiss know-how
Presentation of the Bourgeoisie de St-Gingolph association
A member of the Federation of Valais Bourgeoisies, the association is a centuries-old institution which pursues the following objectives to serve the municipality:
Asset management
Heritage preservation
Management of buildings, forests and mountain pastures
Promotion of local biodiversity
