150 Volunteers Map Grisons Flora, Documenting a Century of Change

In the remote alpine landscapes of the Grisons, Switzerland's largest canton, a dedicated team of 150 volunteers is undertaking an ambitious project: a comprehensive mapping of the region's flora. This initiative seeks to document the diversity of vascular plants and provide a detailed record of their evolution over the last century.

Volunteers like Ingrid Jansen and Simon Gysi venture off established trails, navigating steep scree slopes at altitudes of up to 2,400 meters. Their destination in the Bernina region's Val da Camp involves a challenging trek, requiring careful footing across rocks and boulders. After hours of hiking, the meticulous work begins, with participants focusing intently on the ground.

Equipped with precision magnifying glasses and pocket rulers, Jansen and Gysi identify and record specimens such as Cardamine resedifolia and Euphrasia minima. Their journey to this remote area involved multiple train and bus transfers, taking over four and a half hours from Zurich. Jansen, serving as a coordinator, and Gysi, a volunteer, are part of a larger effort to systematically survey the canton's plant life, contributing to a vital scientific undertaking.

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This is where we are going to map.