Context

Tourism and agricultural activities in the mountains often call for the development of trails, ski resorts, forest tracks, etc. This requires revegetation operations. Current techniques are efficient but the seeds´ origin is still a neglected aspect. Indeed, the seeds used to revegetate high-altitude environments are mostly from mixtures with little diversity and from highly selected varieties of distant origin. This can have harmful consequences on the vegetation of the Alps: the low durability of the plant cover sown leads to a high risk of soil erosion. In addition, the risk of hybridisation and competition with the local flora can lead to a modification of the plant communities and an artificialisation of the landscape.

The initiative

The initiative consists of reseeding and restoring 10 sites in the French Alps with local seeds. The aim is to demonstrate the adaptation of local species in revegetation in different contexts: meadows, ski slopes, eroded paths, subalpine and alpine grasslands. In fact, local seed mixtures lead to a higher soil cover which allows a better maintenance of the soil and a better snow cover. In addition, these mixtures foster biodiversity and adaptation to climate change by maintaining their capacity to evolve. This type of revegetation thus limits future impacts on the environment, in ecological, economic and landscape terms.

Results, limits and enable factors

Sem’les Alpes published a guide book for all professionals working on revegetation. It presents the 10 ecological restoration projects carried out during the 2 years, but it also includes a market study on an Alpine scale, a synthesis of techniques for the production of local seeds, the communication of strategic species for revegetation in the Alps and the setting up of a mapping tool to find "source" sites to restore target areas.
Sem’les Alpes has enabled the networking of all stakeholders involved in the revegetation of Alpine mountain areas: seed producers, users and prescribers. This network should enable the development of the local seed sector and promote the production and the use of local seeds in the Alps.