Rudolphs‘ Tayloria Moss
Single sycamore trees (Acer pseudoplatanus) on meadows and pastures in the Bernese Oberland are nice to see and contribute to an attractive and varying landscape, especially in fall with the yellow coloured leafs. The sycamore pastures are old, men made cultural landscapes and testimony of a hundreds of years old traditional farming. The trees have been used by men in many ways and offered living space for many plants and animals, among them the rare and protected Rudolphs’ Tayloria moss (Tayloria Rudolphiana). This particular species grows mainly on very old, exposed sycamore trees with spreading branches and its distribution in the World Heritage Regions is restricted to single sites in the valleys of Reichenbach and Kiental.
Conservation Measures
The moss species has been mapped in the World Heritage Region in 2014 by the biologists Heike Hofmann and Thomas Kiebacher. Based on the studies of the sites, land use agreements have been signed by the farmers and the responsible Department of the Canton Bern with the aim to maintain the traditional farming.
A first planting campaign of sycamore trees was organized successfully by the World Heritage Management Centre in cooperation with the municipalities in 2015 and numerous farmers.
A main task of a World Heritage management is to make the values visible and to raise awareness of local people and guests. Therefore a sycamore trail with an illustrative brochure with all relevant information have been realized in cooperation with experts. The thematic trail is easy to walk and hiker and stroller can enjoy the same time the unique landscape and the old and monumental sycamore trees.
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