Editing Geography of Switzerland (section)

==Land use==
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=4 width=280 style="float:right; border:1px solid gray; border-collapse:collapse; font-size:80%; margin:0 0.5em 1em;"
| colspan=4 | [[File:Re 482 mit Containerzug bei Oberrüti.jpg|280px|Countryside in Aargau]]
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! align="center" bgcolor="lightblue" colspan="4" |<big>'''Land use'''</big> <br/> <small>Source: [[Federal Statistical Office (Switzerland)|FSO]] (1992–1997)</small><ref name=bfsluse>{{cite web |url=http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/02/03/blank/key/01/zustand_und_entwicklung__tabelle.html |title=Zustand und Entwicklung der Bodennutzung - Arealstatistik 1979/85 und 1992/97 |publisher=Bundesamt für Statistik |date=2010 |access-date=2010-06-03 |language=de |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090725063713/http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/02/03/blank/key/01/zustand_und_entwicklung__tabelle.html |archive-date=2009-07-25 }}</ref>
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!scope=col|Main areas
!scope=col|Surface <br />(in %)
!scope=col|Land use
!scope=col|Surface <br />(in [[Hectare|ha]])
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!scope=row rowspan="5" |'''Surfaces of housing and infrastructure'''|| rowspan="5" align="right"|{{center|6.8}}
|Building areas ||align="right"|{{formatnum:137564}}
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|Industrial areas||align="right"|{{formatnum:20233}}
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|Special infrastructure areas||align="right"|{{formatnum:16111}}
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|Green spaces and recreation areas||align="right"|{{formatnum:15860}}
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|Transportation areas||align="right"|{{formatnum:89329}}
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!scope=row rowspan="3" |'''Agricultural land'''||rowspan="3" align="right"|{{center|36.9}}
|Orchards, vineyards, horticulture||align="right"|{{formatnum:60956}}
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|Arable land, local pastures||align="right"|{{formatnum:926378}}
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|Alpine pastures||align="right"|{{formatnum:537802}}
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!scope=row rowspan="3" |'''Forests'''||rowspan="3" align="right"|{{center|30.8}}
|Forest||align="right"|{{formatnum:1102160}}
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|Scrub forests||align="right"|{{formatnum:60514}}
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|Other woodlands||align="right"|{{formatnum:108978}}
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!scope=row rowspan="4" |'''Unproductive areas'''||rowspan="4" align="right"|{{center|25.5}}
|Lakes||align="right"|{{formatnum:142234}}
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|Rivers||align="right"|{{formatnum:31724}}
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|Unproductive vegetation||align="right"|{{formatnum:263051}}
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|Unvegetated surfaces||align="right"|{{formatnum:615597}}
|}

The Swiss territory is divided into four major types of [[land use]]. {{as of|2001}}, 36.9%<ref name="BFS">{{cite web |last=Bundesamt fur Statistik (Federal Department of Statistics) |title=Statistics for Switzerland |year=2008 |url=http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/international/laenderportraets/schweiz/blank/kennzahlen.html
 |access-date=2008-12-01}} {{in lang|de}}</ref> of the land in Switzerland was used for farming. 30.8% of the country is covered with forests and woodlands,<ref name="BFS"/> with an additional 6.8% covered with houses or buildings.<ref name="BFS Environment"/> About one-fourth (25.5%) of the country is either mountains, lakes or rivers and is categorised as unproductive.<ref name=bfsluse/>

===Surfaces of housing and infrastructure===
The habitat is mainly developed in the Swiss Plateau and the northern slopes of the Alps, near lakes and along major rivers. It occupies 14.6% of the Plateau, the Jura (7.4%), the southern (4.3%) and the northern Alps (4%), and finally the western central Alps (2.9%) and Eastern Alps (1.6%).

Habitat areas and infrastructure grow around the urban areas but also in the countryside, at the expense of agricultural land. This growth (called ''[[suburbanization]]'') is particularly pronounced along the main transport routes such as motorways and railways. New roads lead to a significant increase in construction activity in the affected regions. Many people who work in the city prefer to live in the countryside to take advantage of cheaper land and better quality of life. This is also reflected in the construction statistics: single-family homes arise mainly in rural areas, multi-family homes in the cities. Household structures are also evolving and tend to become smaller. In twelve years, the area devoted to housing increased by 25% while the increase of the population was only 9%.

===Farmland===
{{main|Agriculture in Switzerland}}
Although it is declining, agriculture represents the most important use of the territory in Switzerland. Farmlands dominates the Plateau, occupying just over half of the area. The situation is similar in the Jura (44%), on the northern slopes of the Alps (38.2%) and in the eastern Central Alps (31.4%). In the mountainous regions of the western Central Alps (Valais) and in the south, the agricultural areas (mostly pastures) are proportionately lower.

In 1993 it was estimated that {{convert|250|km2|sqmi}} (or about 0.6%) of the entire country was irrigated<ref name="CIA Factbook"/> meaning that most Swiss farms receive enough rainfall to grow.

The protection of forested areas led to numerous conflicts of interests around the farmland, especially on the Plateau and near urban areas where the habitat area development and infrastructure tend to reduce the amount of arable land. Conversely, the number of farms in the mountains tend to decrease, many areas are left for the benefit of woodlands to the detriment of landscape diversity. This decline is particularly marked in Valais and Ticino.

===Forests===
{{main|Forests of Switzerland}}
Forests cover less than a third of the territory, but the area is increasing year by year. The [[reforestation]] is essentially natural, mainly in the Alps where the forest areas reoccupy those abandoned by farmers. [[Afforestation]] contributes 13% to reforestation, and is conducted for compensation following a clearance or to provide protection against natural hazards in the mountainous areas (avalanches, landslides). Forests are more predominant in the Jura and in the southern Alps, occupying respectively 47.7% and 47.2% of the soil in these regions. On the northern slopes of the Alps, Alpine forest occupy 33.2% and on the Plateau 24.6%. It is in the Central Alps that forest areas occupy less floor with about 22% coverage.

Switzerland is home to mixed maple-ash forests of fertile and deep earth that collects at the base of slopes. They replace the moist oak-hornbeam forests in areas with higher rainfall. This type of forest has been called "one of the most productive in Switzerland" and the tree growth has been described as "aggressive". It takes one third of the time for trees to reach the same height as it would in a mull-beech forest and within 100 years trees in maple-ash forests can reach a height of 35m, though the quality of wood will not be as high. The rich undergrowth of these forests is dominated by the ''[[allium ursinum]]'' (wild garlic) common throughout Western Europe.<ref>{{cite book |title=Ecology of Central European Forests |date=22 September 2017 |publisher=Springer |pages=450–451 |isbn=9783319430423 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dOQ2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA450 |access-date=28 March 2019}}</ref>

===Unproductive areas===
The unproductive areas correspond to all areas occupied by rocks, boulders, ice, snow fields and unproductive vegetation beyond the limits of forests. Lakes, rivers and wetlands are also unproductive areas. Occupying 25.5% of Swiss soil, these surfaces are in very slight decline (-0.1% over 10 years). They are predominant in the Central Alps (half of the soil), on the contrary they only cover 10% of the surface of the plateau and 1% of the Swiss Jura. The uncultivated mountain areas are exploited by the tourism and the production of [[hydroelectricity]]. Climatic conditions strongly affect the landscape of these areas: water [[seepage]], [[landslides]], [[avalanche]]s, [[torrent (stream)|torrent]]s in spate. Man intervenes on 0.2% of this surface area to create infrastructure protecting against floods or avalanches. The channels of communication, with many works of art occupy a portion of these surfaces.

In the plains, lakes and streams near areas of habitat are used for recreation and relaxation. Habitats, damp or dry, and nature reserves are managed and these areas contribute to maintain [[biodiversity]].