Rietli Habitat Mosaic

In spring 2015, primary school students from Scuola Vivante discovered frogspawn during one of their walks in Rietli. Rietli, a small, 3.5-hectare piece of meadowland, adjacent to a forest, south of Buchs SG (CH).

The area is often waterlogged – the name Rietli refers to the boggy fen – to the dismay of the farmer who uses the grass for fodder, but to the delight of the students who observe the lively activity of tadpoles in the wet meadow.

The constant attempts to drain this originally deep-peat fen area through selective embankments angered the children. Tadpoles were rescued and relocated in buckets.

This indignation led to the creation of the “Rietli Buchs Enhancement Project,” which aims to restore the entire area to its original natural state through the collaboration of experts, educators, students, and parents. A habitat mosaic is created.