Matterhorn admirers trampling rare plants

Tourists rushing headlong to get a photo of the magnificent Matterhorn in Switzerland are being blamed for destroying rare alpine plants.

High-season visitors crowding around the shore of Riffelsee Lake, in the country’s southern canton of Valais, have been trampling plants such as the edelweiss in an effort to line up the perfect shot for social media.

The 4,478-metre peak is beautifully reflected in the glacial waters of the lake and is a favourite of photographers. But officials in Zermatt say the densely packed pink flowers are being wiped out by foot traffic from the Rotenboden cogwheel train station to Riffelsee. Quoted by The Times of London, botanist Adrian Möhl said: “People don’t do it maliciously. They simply don’t realize they’re standing on plants.”

The authorities have now fenced off pastures to ensure visitors do not stray from the designated pathways in the latest move to control over-tourism across much of Europe. Jakob Graven, a gardener who looks after the plants – known as Thlaspi rotundifolium – said there has been a noticeable improvement since the barriers were erected.

“The situation has improved a lot,” he said. “People are no longer criss-crossing the landscape. “The tourists’ favourite is the edelweiss, but these have disappeared from here because they were trampled on. Now we’re trying to bring them back.” In Zermatt, the local authority has billed the lake as “surely on every visitor’s bucket list.”