Chrutzelen peat pit

Raised bogs are very sensitive habitats and are under special protection. They provide a habitat for rare and fascinating plant and animal species. There are still 30 raised bogs in the Mittelland of the canton of Zurich. The third largest raised bog (Chrutzele) in the canton of Zurich is in Rifferswill. Since 2010, the Nature Network has been carrying out maintenance work in the bog all year round.

Raised bogs were formed 10,000 years ago after the end of the last ice age. The building blocks of bogs are peat mosses ( Sphagnum ). The peat mosses grow continuously in the upper area and die continuously in the lower area. This is how peat is formed. This is a very slow development. It takes 1,000 years to form one meter of peat.

Peat was mined in Switzerland for two centuries. The moors were drained and the mined, dry peat was used for fuel and building purposes. A relic from this time are the peat pits. The pits filled with water and small pools formed in the moor.

These moorland waters provide a habitat for the large damselfly ( Leucorrhinia pectorali ) . This species is highly endangered in Switzerland and has a high national priority. To promote this species, the Nature Network association and the Canton of Zurich's Nature Conservation Department uncovered a peat pit.

First, the vegetation on the north side of the peat pit was removed with a brush cutter and a chainsaw so that the excavator could stand there. Then community service workers helped the excavator with its work. The floating vegetation islands were cut off with hay bales and then pulled across the pond using muscle and excavator power. We stuck two pitchforks attached to a rope into the vegetation island. The excavator pulled on the rope and we pulled in the opposite direction so that the pitchfork remained stuck in the island.

The excavated material was then transported away using a crawler dump truck. The excavated material contained a lot of illegally dumped waste that had been there for decades.

While working, we had to stand in and on the water. To avoid having to stand in the water the whole time, we built a platform with protective mats on the water. The floating vegetation formed an island and the protective mats distributed our weight.

A large part of the peat pond has been dug up and exposed again. 10 years ago, the Nature Network had already removed the vegetation in this pond. At that time, however, only by hand and Habegger. In 10 years we will see whether we were more effective this time or whether the next time we will have to uncover it by hand again.