Ecological upgrading on Weineggstrasse

In the immediate vicinity of the Zurich Botanical Garden, on Weineggstrasse, the volunteers of the Nature Network were able to ecologically upgrade an area of around 840 square meters between autumn 2022 and spring 2023. For the areas, which were used by a nursery until 2019 and have been lying fallow since then, Jonas Landolt ( inatura.ch ) created an upgrading concept that aims to promote rare species found in the area - especially rare wild bee species.

After clearing various problem plants (including a large thicket of Armenian blackberry), over 110 cubic metres of humus were removed from the eastern area and replaced with nutrient-poor wall gravel. This laborious work was particularly important because – to put it simply – a much greater diversity of flora and fauna can develop on a substrate with a low nutrient content and the target species in particular will benefit greatly from this.

The volunteers invested a lot of muscle power and passion in the further design of the area and built valuable ecological niches with a variety of different elements: stone blocks made of boulders / wild bee sand lenses / many different dead wood structures / a 3 x 5 m pond / a fence covered with rare roses and ivy / species-rich hedge shrubs / species-rich perennial and flower vegetation / a 14 m long dry stone wall made of sandstone. The sown and planted flora as well as the many structures and shelters will benefit many rare animal species found in the area such as the Common Toad ( Bufo bufo ) / Spotted Grasshopper ( Leptophyes punctatissima ) / Pipistrellus pygmaeus ) / Red-browed Hairstreak ( Thecla betulae ) / Goldfinch ( Carduelis carduelis ) / Rough-spotted Sand Bee ( Andrena wilkella) / Vulture Bee ( Megachile ericetorum ).

To ensure that the area can continue to fulfil its new function as a biodiversity promotion area in the long term, the District 7 and 8 Nature Conservation Association will take over the maintenance of the area from summer 2023.

The work was financed by the naturemade star fund of ewz and Grün Stadt Zürich .