A close look at biodiversity

The “Schneewinkel“ pilot project has exemplary character and should find imitators. The project aims at developing, assessing and continuously optimizing successful and practicable measures for the promotion of biodiversity in fruit production. At the same time, we would like to strengthen the knowledge and awareness for the multiple aspects of biodiversity.

The “Schneewinkel“ apple production area comprises 65-70 hectares cultivated by about 50 producers and is situated in Silandro in Val Venosta. This production area with both integrated and organic production has been the experimental area for the pilot project for protecting and promoting biodiversity since 2019.

You have to know the current state to understand the future impacts of measures for the promotion of biodiversity. This is why scientists of the Institute for Alpine Environment of Eurac Research examine the presence of birds, bats, butterflies and flying insects before the implementation of the measures. The project includes eight monitoring sites: four inside the “Schneewinkel” core area where the measures will be implemented in future and four in a control area outside the “Schneewinkel” area with no specific measures.

The “Schneewinkel” area is characterized by intensive fruit cultivation with only a few further habitats such as hedges and meadows that can serve as habitats for additional species. This is why the examined fauna is not much different from the one in other fruit production areas. Generally speaking, widespread generalists and stress-tolerant species dominate in all groups. The four areas in the core area and the four areas in the control area are currently not significantly different from each other. We are curious to see if the fauna will significantly change after the implementation of the measures in the core area.

A series of institutions collaborate in the pilot project: We as VIP are the project leader with Hannes Spögler of the GEOS cooperative being the project manager. Lucius Tamm of the Swiss Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL is responsible for the professional support, whereas the scientists of Eurac Research are in charge of surveys and evaluations. Other project participants are the South Tyrolean Advisory Service for Fruit Production and Winegrowing, Laimburg Research Center and the Office for Agricultural Machinery and Organic Production.