The government has banned certain non-native plant species including cherry laurels – which garden centres will no long be able to sell as of September 1.
The decision to ban the sale of certain plants to third parties, taken on Friday, follows up on a parliamentary request, the government said.
The measure is intended to prevent invasive and alien plants from spreading in the environment and causing damage.
Certain species, including cherry laurel, summer lilac and empress trees may not be sold, given away or imported from September 1. Plants that are already in Swiss gardens are not affected by the ban.
The government has also extended the so-called handling ban. This means that a number of invasive alien plants may no longer be used, i.e. placed on the market, planted or cultivated. This ban applies to the tree of heaven, ragweed and giant hogweed, among others.
Import controls by customs are now also possible, while cantons are also responsible for enforcing the bans.
Of the approximately 1,300 non-native animal, plant and fungal species currently found in Switzerland, around 200 are invasive, the government wrote. Almost ninety invasive species are plants, and it can be assumed that this number will keep rising.
Adapted from German by DeepL/dos
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Popular Stories
More
Multinational companies
Azeri fossil-fuel cash cow brings controversy to Switzerland
Swiss price watchdog slams excessive prices for generic medicines
This content was published on
The cheapest generic medicines available in Switzerland are more than twice as expensive as in other countries, according to a study by the Swiss price watchdog.
Nature should not figure in net zero calculations: academic study
This content was published on
The natural removal of CO2 from the atmosphere by forests or oceans should not be included in the net-zero balance of climate protection measures, argue researchers.
This content was published on
None of the 15 major Swiss retail banks is meeting international climate and biodiversity targets, according to a ranking by WWF Switzerland.
This content was published on
Nestlé's new CEO Laurent Freixe, has presented plans for the future of the world's largest food company, after his first few weeks in office.
Swiss foreign minister calls on Moscow to end Ukraine war
This content was published on
It's high time Moscow ended its war against Ukraine, Swiss foreign minister Ignazio Cassis tells the UN Security Council.
This content was published on
The only alternative to the UN Palestinian agency’s work in Gaza is to allow Israel to run services there, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, told reporters in Geneva on Monday.
Study reveals food culture differences between Switzerland and neighbours
This content was published on
Three-quarters of Swiss people consider eating to be a pleasurable, social activity, a new survey reveals. Healthy eating, however, plays a much less important role, it found.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.