The has undertaken research of the impact of forest structure and water balance on shallow landslides. The aim is to provide forest management with practical support in the Davos region of Switzerland.
Almost half of Switzerland’s forest is protection forest, meaning that it is used to protect citizens from alpine mass movements and consequently reduces the risk to people and infrastructure.
It is essential that research is undertaken and the results are implemented. For this, data should be easy to collect but also practically relevant. Additionally there may be conflicts between economic efficiency and the sustainable preservation of the protective function of the forest. So, the quantification of the impact of vegetation poses a major challenge for research.